567: potassium (K), iron (Fe), and tungsten (W) Jun 27, 2016

Many, if not most, of the chemical-symbols for elements on the periodic table make sense from an English-background, such as 'O' for 'oxygen' and 'Ti' for 'titanium'. There are a few, however, that share no common letters with the English names. 'K' stands for 'potassium' because of the Latin name, 'kalium', and likewise 'Fe' stands for 'iron' from the Latin 'ferrum' which interestingly was the word for 'iron' but also 'sword'. The 'W' for 'tungsten' does not come from Latin (or Greek), but instead from the German 'Wolfram'. The English name is adopted from the Swedish, literally 'heavy stone', though the German name, more scientific, comes from 'wolframite' where it was discovered, and means 'devourer of tin' because of its chemical properties.