Tuesday, 6 March 2012

Which planet is also the name of an element?

As per ReNiSh A R's post, the answer is Mercury.



A quick Google search took me here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_chemical_element_discoveries <= second result!



If you control-F search the page, you'll find the following:



Mercury - discovered before 2000BC, so the planet will have been named after the element



Plutonium - About 1940/41, meaning it would have been named after Pluto (before it was declassified as a planet)



Uranus - Uranium discovered around 1789



Neptune - Neptunium discovered 1940



In addition, the only one of those having exactly the same name for both the planet and the element is Mercury.

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