论化学命名法和化学符号的历史演变

A Brief Discussion about the Functions of Chemical Nomenclature and Chemical Symbolism

本文从历史观点讨论了化学命名法和化学符号的功能。化学命名法和化学符号皆为化学语言。始于十九世纪初的化学语言变化,反映了那个时期化学本身的变化。由于定量化学的发展,要求充分地描写化合物的组成。旧的符号仅是用作贴在瓶上的标签,新的与之不同,其唯一目的是对于某一给定化合物分子要强化表示化合比例而不拖泥带水。新的化学式应能方便地表示分析结果而又容易被记住。

This paper deals with the functions of chemical nomenclature and che-mical symbolism on historical background. Chemical symbolism and chemicalnomenclature are language of chemistry. The changes in the language ofchemistry around the beginning of ninetenth century reflect the changes inchemistry itself. The development of quantitative chemistry requires the fulldescription of the composition of compound. The purpose of new symbols isdifferent from that of the older ones, not to serve as mere labels in labora-tores, but to strengthen the straightforward expressions of the proportion ofcompound with respect to some given compound element. The new symbolsshould possess the function of expressing the analytical results conveniently,and should be easily remembered as well.