Named after Dmitri Mendeleev, who created the Periodic Table

Imenovan po Dmitriju Mendeljejevu, koji je stvorio periodni sustav

Named after of Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist who discovered dynamite and founder of the Nobel Prizes

Imenovan po Alfredu Nobelu, švedskom kemičaru, otkrivaču dinamita i osnivaču Nobelove nagrade

Named after Ernest O. Lawrence, inventor of the cyclotron

Imenovan po Ernetsu O. Lawrencu, izumitelju ciklotrona

Named after Ernest Rutherford, the physicist and chemist from New Zealand

Imenovan po Ernestu Rutherfordu, fizičaru i kemičaru s Novog Zelanda

Named after the Russian town of Dubna

Imenovan po ruskom gradu Dubni

Named after Glenn Seaborg, American nuclear chemist and Nobel prize winner

Imenovan po Glennu Seaborgu, američkom nuklearnom kemičaru i dobitniku Nobelove nagrade

Named after Niels Bohr, the Danish physicist

Imenovan po Nielsu Bohru, danskom fizičaru

From the Latin word "Hassias" meaning Hess, the German state

Od latinske riječi "Hassias", što označava Hess, pokrajnu u Njemačkoj

Named after Lise Meitner, the Austrian physicist

Imenovan po Lise Meitner, austrijskoj fizičarki

Named after the German city of Darmstadt

Imenovan po Njemačkom gradu Darmstadtu

Named after Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, the German physicist

Imenovan po Wilhelmu Conradu Röntgenu, njemačkom fizičaru

Named after the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus

Imenovan po astronomu Nikoli Koperniku

The name comes from the common Japanese name for Japan

Ime dolazi iz japanskog naziva za Japan

Named after the founder of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, the Soviet physicist Georgy Flyorov

Imenovan po osnivaču Flerovog Laboratorija za nuklearne reakcije, sovijetskom fizičaru Georgiju Nikolajeviču Flerovu

Named after Moscow Oblast where Dubna is located

Imenovan po Moskovskoj oblasti, mjestu gdje se Dubna nalazi

Named after the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, within the city of Livermore, California

Imenovan po Nacionalnom laboratoriju Lawrence Livermore, koji se nalazi u gradu Livermoru u Kaliforniji

Named after the region of Tennessee

Imenovan po američkoj saveznoj državi Tennessee

Named after the Russian nuclear physicist Yuri Oganessian

Imenovan po ruskom nuklearnom fizičaru Juriju Oganesianu

Henry Cavendish was the first to distinguish hydrogen from other gases in 1766 when he prepared it by reacting hydrochloric acid with zinc. In 1670, English scientist Robert Boyle had observed its production by reacting strong acids with metals. French scientist Antoine Lavoisier later named the element hydrogen in 1783.

Henry Cavendish prvi je raspoznao vodik od drugih plinova 1776. kada ga je pripravio reakcijom klorovodične kiseline i cinka. Engleski znanstvenik Robert Boyle je 1670. promatrao njegovu proizodnju u reakcijama jakih kiselina i metala. Francuski znanstvenik Antoine Lavoisier ga je 1783. imenovao "hydrogène"; po uzoru na taj naziv krajem 19. stoljeća Bogoslav Šulek nazvao ga je vodikom.

French astronomer Jules Janssen obtained the first evidence of helium during the solar eclipse of 1868. Norman Lockyer and Edward Frankland suggested the name helium for the new element. In 1895, Sir William Ramsay discovered helium in the uranium mineral cleveite. It was independently discovered in cleveite by Per Teodor Cleve and Abraham Langlet.

Francuski astronom Jules Janssen je pridobio prve dokaze za postojanje helija tokom pomrčine Sunca 1868. Norman Lockyer i Edward Frankland su predložili ime helij za ovaj novi element. 1895. Sir William Ramsay je otkrio helij u mineralu uranija zvanom kleveit. Samostalno su ga otkrili u kleveitu Per Teodor Cleve i Abraham Langlet.

Lithium was discovered by Johann Arfvedson in 1817 when he was analyzing minerals from the island of Uto in Sweden. The pure metal was isolated the following year by both Swedish chemist William Thomas Brande and English chemist Sir Humphry Davy working independently. In 1855, larger quantities of lithium were produced through the electrolysis of lithium chloride by Robert Bunsen and Augustus Matthiessen.

Litij je otkrio Johann Arfvedson 1817. kada je analizirao minerale s otoka Uto u Švedskoj. Čisti metal su izolirali švedski kemičar William Thomas Brande i engleski kemičar Sir Humphry Davy sljedeće godine radeći samostalno. 1855. veće količine litija su Robert Bunsen i Augustus Matthiessen proizveli elektrolizom litijevog klorida.

Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin discovered beryllium in the oxide form in both beryl and emeralds in 1798. Friedrich Wöhler and Antoine Bussy independently isolated beryllium in 1828 by the chemical reaction of metallic potassium with beryllium chloride. The first commercially-successful process for producing beryllium was developed in 1932 by Alfred Stock and Hans Goldschmidt.

Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin je otkrio berilij u njegovim oksidima u berilu i smaragdima 1798. Friedrich Wöhler i Antoine Bussy su samostalno izolirali berilij 1828. kemijskom reakcijom metalnog kalija i berilijevog klorida. Prvi komercijalno uspješsan proces dobivanja berilija su Alfred Stock i Hans Goldschmidt razvili 1932.

Boron compounds have been known for thousands of years, but the element was not discovered until 1808 by Sir Humphry Davy and by Gay-Lussac and Thenard. Boron was not recognized as an element until it was isolated in 1808 by Sir Humphry Davy and by Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and Louis Jacques Thénard. Jöns Jakob Berzelius identified boron as an element in 1824.

Spojevi bora poznati su već tisućama godina, ali element su otkrili Sir Humphry Davy, Gay-Lussac i Thendard tek 1808. Bor nije bio prepoznat kao element dok ga 1808. Sir Humphry Davy, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac i Louis Jacques Thénard nisu izolirali. Jöns Jakob Berzelius je identificarao bor kao element 1824.

Carbon was discovered in prehistory and was known in the forms of soot and charcoal to the earliest human civilizations. In 1772, Antoine Lavoisier showed that diamonds are a form of carbon; when he burned samples of charcoal and diamond and found that neither produced any water. In 1779, Carl Wilhelm Scheele showed that graphite burned to form carbon dioxide and so must be another form of carbon.

Ugljik je otkriven još u prapovijesti i poznat je bio u oblicima čađe i ugljena čak i najranijim ljudskim civilizacijama. 1772. Antoine Lavoisier je otkrio da su dijamanti još jedan oblik ugljika kada je spalio uzorke ugljena i dijamanta i ustanovio da niti jedan nije proizveo vodu. 1779. Carl Wilhelm Scheele je pokazao da izgaranjem grafita nastaje ugljikov dioksid te stoga da grafit mora biti još jedan obljik ugljika.

Nitrogen is considered to have been discovered by Scottish physician Daniel Rutherford in 1772, who called it noxious air or fixed air. It was also studied at about the same time by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Henry Cavendish and Joseph Priestley. In 1790 the French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal named the element nitrogen.

Smatra se da je dušik otkrio škotski fizičar Daniel Rutherford 1772., koji ga je prozvao škodljiv ili fiksirani zrak. U isto su ga vrijeme proučavali i Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Henry Cavendish i Joseph Priestley. 1790. ga je francuski kemičar Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal nazvao "azotum", a krajem 19. stoljeća Bogoslav Šulek imenovao ga je dušikom.

Carl Wilhelm Scheele obtained oxygen by heating mercuric oxide and nitrates in 1771, but did not publish his findings until 1777. Joseph Priestley also prepared this new air by 1774. The name oxygen was coined in 1777 by Antoine Lavoisier, whose experiments with oxygen helped to discredit the then-popular phlogiston theory of combustion and corrosion.

Carl Wilhelm Scheele je 1771. dobio kisik zagrijavanjem živinih oksida i nitrata, ali je svoje pronalaske objavio tek 1777. Joseph Priestley je 1774. isto tako napravio ovaj novi tip zraka. Ime "oxygenium" je 1777. skovao Antoine Lavoisier, čiji su eksperimenti s kisikom pomogli diskreditirati tada popularnu flogistonsku teoriju gorenja i korozije. Po uzoru na taj naziv krajem 19. st. Bogoslav Šulek smislio je hrvatski naziv kisik.

In 1529, Georigius Agricola described the use of fluorspar as a flux. In 1670 Heinrich Schwandhard found that glass was etched when exposed to fluorspar treated with acid. In 1810, French scientist Andre-Marie Ampere proposed that fluoric acid was a compound of hydrogen with a new element. The element was finally isolated in 1886 by Henri Moissan.

1529. Georigius Agricola je opisao korištenje fluorita kao fluks. 1670. Heinrich Schwandhard je uočio da je staklo izloženo fluoritu tretiranom sa kiselinom gravirano. 1810. francuski znanstvenik André-Marie Ampère je predložio da je fluorovodična kiselina spoj vodika s novim elementom. Element je konačno izolirao Henri Moissan 1886.

Neon was discovered in 1898 by the British chemists Sir William Ramsay and Morris W. Travers in London. It was discovered when Ramsay chilled a sample of air until it became a liquid, then warmed the liquid and captured the gases as they boiled off. After 1902, Georges Claude's company, Air Liquide, was producing industrial quantities of neon as a byproduct of his air liquefaction business.

Neon su otkrili britanski kemičari Sir William Ramsay i Morris W. Travers u Londonu 1898. godine. Otkriven je kad je Ramsay ohladio uzorak zraka dok nije postao tekućina, zatim ugrijao tekućinu i skupljao plinove kako su isparavali. Nakon 1902., kompanija Georgesa Claudea, Air liquide, je proizvodila industrijske količine neona kao nusprodukt njegovog posla likvefakcije zraka.

The chemical abbreviation for sodium was first published by Jöns Jakob Berzelius in his system of atomic symbols. It is a contraction of the element's new Latin name "natrium", which refers to the Egyptian "natron", a natural mineral salt primarily made of hydrated sodium carbonate. In 1807, Sir Humphry Davy isolated sodium for the first time by electrolysis of dried sodium hydroxide, which had been very slightly moistened.

Kemijsku kraticu za natrij prvi je objavio Jöns Jakob Berzelius u svojem sustavu atomskih simbola. On je skraćenica novolatinskog imena tog elementa "natrium", što se odnosi na egipatski "natron", prirodnu mineralnu sol većinski sastavljenu od hidrata natrijevog karbonata. 1807., Sir Humphry Davy je po prvi put izolirao natrij elektrolizom suhog natrijevog hidroksida, koji je bio vrlo blago navlažen.

Scottish chemist Joseph Black recognized magnesium as an element in 1755. Magnesium was first isolated by Sir Humphry Davy in 1808, in London. He used electrolysis on a mixture of magnesia and mercuric oxide. Antoine Bussy prepared it in coherent form in 1831.

Škotski kemičar Joseph Black je prepoznao magnezij kao element 1755. Magnezij je po prvi put izolirao Sir Humphry Davy 1808. u Londonu. Koristio je elektrolizu na mješavini magnezija i živinog oksida. Antoine Bussy ga je pripremio u njegovom koherentnom obliku 1831.

In 1761, Guyton de Morveau proposed the name alumine for the base in alum, and Antoine Lavoisier, in 1787, thought this to be the oxide of a still undiscovered metal. Sir Humphry Davy identified the existence of a metal base of alum in 1808. Hans Christian Ørsted was the first to isolate metallic aluminium in 1825 in impure form. Friedrich Wöhler is generally credited with having isolated the metal in 1827.

1761., Guyton de Morveau predložio je ime "alumine" za bazu stipsa, a 1787., Antoine Lavoisier mislio je da je to oksid još neotkrivenog metala. Sir Humphry Davy je identificirao postojanje metalne baze stipse 1808. Hans Christian Ørsted je prvi izolirao metalni aluminij u nečistom obliku 1825. Općenito se izolacija aluminija pripisuje Friedrichu Wöhleru 1827.

In 1800, Sir Humphry Davy thought silica to be a compound and not an element; but in 1811, Gay Lussac and Louis Jacques Thénard probably prepared impure amorphous silicon by heating potassium with silicon tetrafluoride. In 1824 Jöns Jakob Berzelius prepared amorphous silicon by the same general method. Henri Deville in 1854 first prepared crystalline silicon, the second allotropic form of the element.

1800., Sir Humphry Davy je vjerovao da je silika spoj, a ne element; ali 1811., Gay Lussac i Louis Jacques Thénard su vjerojatno pripremili nečisti amorfni silicij zagrijavanjem kalija sa silicijevim tetrafluoridom. 1824. Jöns Jakob Berzelius je pripremio amorfni silicij okvirno istom metodom. Henri Deville je 1854. prvi pripremio kristalni silicij, drugi alotropni oblik silicija.

Hennig Brand discovered phosphorus in 1669, in Hamburg, Germany, preparing it from urine. In 1769, Johan Gottlieb Gahn and Carl Wilhelm Scheele showed that calcium phosphate is found in bones, and they obtained elemental phosphorus from bone ash. Antoine Lavoisier recognized phosphorus as an element in 1777.

Henning Brand je 1669. otkrio fosfor u Hamburgu u Njemačkoj, tako što ga je pripremio iz urina. 1769., Johan Gottlieb Gahb i Carl Wilhelm Scheele pokazali su da se kalcijev fosfat nalazi u kostima, i dobili elementarni fosfor iz pepela kostiju. Antoine Lavoisier je prepoznao fosfor kao element 1777.

By the 3rd century, the Chinese discovered that sulfur could be extracted from pyrite. Indian alchemists wrote extensively about the use of sulfur in alchemical operations with mercury, from the eighth century AD onwards. In 1777, Antoine Lavoisier helped convince the scientific community that sulfur was an element, not a compound.

Do 3. stoljeća, Kinezi su otkrili da se sumpor može izvući iz pirita. Indijski alkemičari opsežno su pisali o koristima sumpora u alkemijskim operacijama sa živom, od 8. stoljeća pa nadalje. 1777., Antoine Lavoisier je pomogao uvjeriti znanstvenu zajednicu da je sumpor element, a ne spoj.

Around 1630, chlorine was recognized as a gas by the Belgian chemist and physician Jan Baptist van Helmont. Elemental chlorine was first prepared and studied in 1774 by Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. By 1810, the scientific consensus was that chlorine was actually a compound that contained oxygen. In 1811, Sir Humphry Davy concluded the new gas was in fact a new element.

Oko 1630., belgijski kemičar i liječnik Jan Baptist van Helmont raspoznao je klor kao plin. Elementarni klor je po prvi put pripremio i proučavao švedski kemičar Carl Wilhelm Scheele 1774. Do 1810., znanstveni konsenzus je bio da je klor spoj koji sadrži kisik. 1811., Sir Humphry Davy je zaključio da je klor novi element.

Argon was suspected to be present in air by Henry Cavendish in 1785. It was not isolated until 1894 by Lord Rayleigh and Sir William Ramsay in Scotland. Argon became the first member of the noble gases to be discovered. In 1957, IUPAC agreed that the symbol should change from A to Ar.

Henry Cavendish je 1785. pretpostavio da je argon prisutan u zraku. Tek su ga 1894. izolirali Lord Rayleigh i Sir William Ramsay u Škotskoj. Argon je postao prvi otkriveni plemeniti plin. 1957., IUPAC se složio da se simbol treba promijeniti iz A u Ar.

Potassium's symbol K comes from 'kalium' the name of the element in Germany and Scandinavia. Potassium metal was first isolated in 1807 by Sir Humphry Davy, who derived it from caustic potash by the use of electrolysis of the molten salt with the newly discovered voltaic pile. Potassium was the first metal that was isolated by electrolysis.

Kalijev simbol K dolazi iz njemačkog i skandinavskog naziva 'kalium'. Kalij je prvi izolirao Sir Humphry Davy 1807. iz kaustične potaše elektrolizom rastaljene soli pomoću novootkrivenog Voltinog elektostatičkog stupa. Kalij je prvi metal koji je izoliran elektrolizom.

Calcium was known as early as the first century when the Ancient Romans prepared lime as calcium oxide. Calcium was first isolated by Sir Humphry Davy in 1808 when he electrolyzed a mixture of lime and mercuric oxide. Davy was trying to isolate calcium; when he heard that Jöns Jakob Berzelius and Pontin prepared calcium amalgam by electrolyzing lime in mercury, he tried it himself.

Kalcij je poznat još od prvog stoljeća kada su Rimljani pripremali vapno kao kalcijev oksid. Kalcij je prvi izolirao Sir Humphry Davy 1808. kada je elektrolizom rastavio mješavinu vapna i živinog oksida. Davy je pokušavao izolirati kalcij; kada je čuo da su Jöns Jakob Berzelius i Pontin pripremili amalgam kalcija uz pomoć elektrolize vapna u živi, i sam je pokušao taj pokus.

In 1879, Lars Fredrik Nilson and his team detected scandium in the minerals euxenite and gadolinite. Nilson prepared 2 grams of scandium oxide of high purity. Per Teodor Cleve showed that scandium had properties similar to those predicted by Mendeleev for eka-boron. Metallic scandium was first prepared in 1937 by Fischer and his colleagues.

1879., Lars Fredrik Nilson i njegov tim su detektirali skandij u mineralima euksenitu i gadolinitu. Nilson je pripremio 2 grama skandijevog oksida visoke čistoće. Per Teodor Cleve je pokazao da skandij ima svojstva slična onima koja je Mendeljejev predvidio za eka-bor. Metalni skandij su prvi pripremili Fischer i njegovi suradnici 1937.

William Gregor found the oxide of titanium in ilmenite in 1791. Martin Heinrich Klaproth independently discovered the element in rutile in 1795 and named it. The pure metallic form was only obtained in 1910 by Matthew A. Hunter. In 1936, the Kroll Process made the commercial production of titanium possible.

William Gregor je otkrio oksid titanija u ilmenitu 1791. Martin Heinrich Klaproth je nezavisno otkrio titanij u rutilu 1795. i imenovao ga. Čisti metalni titanij je dobio Matthew A. Hunter tek 1910. 1936., Krollov proces je omogućio komercijalnu proizvodnju titanija.

Vanadium was originally discovered by Andrés Manuel del Río in 1801. In 1805, the French chemist Hippolyte Victor Collet-Descotils incorrectly declared that del Río's new element was only an impure sample of chromium. In 1831, the Swedish chemist Nils Gabriel Sefström rediscovered the element in a new oxide he found while working with iron ores. Later that same year, Friedrich Wöhler confirmed del Río's earlier work.

Vanadij je otkrio Andrés Manuel del Río 1801. 1805., francuski kemičar Hippolyte Victor Collet-Descotils je pogrešno izjavio da je del Ríov novi element samo nečisti uzorak kroma. 1831., švedski kemičar Nils Gabriel Sefström je ponovno otkrio vanadij u novom oksidu koji je pronašao dok je radio sa željeznim rudama. Kasnije te godine, Friedrich Wöhler je potvrdio del Ríovov raniji rad.

In 1797, Louis Nicolas Vauquelin received samples of crocoite ore. In 1798, Vauquelin discovered that he could isolate metallic chromium by heating the oxide in a charcoal oven, making him the discoverer of the element. Vauquelin was also able to detect traces of chromium in precious gemstones, such as ruby or emerald.

1797., Louis Nicolas Vauquelin je dobio uzorke rude krokoita. 1798., Vauquelin je otkrio da može izolirati metalni krom zagrijavanjem njegovog oksida u peći na ugljen, što ga čini otkrivačem tog elementa. Vauquelin je uspio i detektirati tragove kroma u dragom kamenju, kao što su rubini i smaragdi.

By the mid-18th century, Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele had used pyrolusite to produce chlorine. Scheele and others were aware that pyrolusite contained a new element, but they were not able to isolate it. Johan Gottlieb Gahn was the first to isolate an impure sample of manganese metal in 1774, by reducing the dioxide with carbon.

Do sredine 18. stoljeća, švedski kemičar Wilhelm Scheele iskoristio je piroluzit za proizvodnju klora. Scheele i drugi bili su svjesni da piroluzit sadrži novi element, ali ga nisu mogli izolirati. Johan Gottlieb Gahn prvi je izolirao nečisti uzorak metala mangana 1774., reduciranjem njegova oksida pomoću ugljika.

The first iron used by humans is likely to have come from meteorites. The oldest known iron objects used by humans are some beads of meteoric iron, made in Egypt in about 4000 BC. The discovery of smelting around 3000 BC led to the start of the iron age around 1200 BC and the prominent use of iron for tools and weapons.

Prvo željezo koje su koristili ljudi vjerojatno je došlo s meteoritima. Najstariji poznati željezni objekti koje su koristili ljudi su kuglice meteorskog željeza napravljene u Egiptu oko 4000 godina pr. Kr. Otkriće taljenja oko 3000 godina pr. Kr. dovelo je do početka željeznog doba oko 1200 godine pr. Kr., te značajne uporabe željeza za alate i oružja.

Cobalt compounds have been used for centuries to impart a rich blue color to glass, glazes and ceramics. The element was first isolated by Swedish chemist George Brandt in 1735. He showed it was the presence of the element cobalt that caused the blue color in glass, not bismuth as previously thought.

Spojevi kobalta stoljećima su korišteni kako bi se staklu, glazuri i keramici dala bogata plava boja. Element je prvi izolirao švedski kemičar George Brandt godine 1735. Pokazao je da je prisutnost elementa kobalta ono što uzrokuje plavu boju u staklu, a ne bizmut, kao što se prije mislilo.

Artifacts made from metallic meteorites have been found dating from as early as 5000 BC. In 1751, Baron Axel Fredrik Cronstedt was trying to extract copper from kupfernickel and instead produced the white metal. In the early twentieth century, Ludwig Mond patented a process using nickel carbonyl to purify nickel.

Pronađeni su predmeti načinjeni od metalnih meteorita čak 5000 godina prije Krista. Godine 1751. barun Axel Fredrik Cronstedt pokušavao je izdvojiti bakar iz kupronikla i umjesto toga proizveo bijeli metal nikal. Početkom 20. stoljeća Ludwig Mond je patentirao proces koji koristi niklov karbonil za pročišćivanje nikla.

Copper occurs naturally as native copper and was known to some of the oldest civilizations on record. Earliest estimates of the discovery of copper suggest around 9000 BC in the Middle East. It was one of the most important materials to humans throughout the copper and bronze ages.

Bakar se u prirodi nalazi samorodan i bio je poznat nekima od najstarijih zabilježenih civilizacija. Prema najranijim procjenama otkriven je oko 9000 godina prije Krista na Bliskom Istoku. Bio je jedan od najvažnijih materijala ljudima u bakrenom i brončanom dobu.

Metallic zinc was produced in the 13th century A.D. India by reducing calamine with organic substances such as wool. The metal was rediscovered in Europe by Andreas Sigismund Marggraf in 1746. He heated a mixture of calamine ore and carbon in a closed vessel without copper to produce the metal.

Metal cink proizveden je u Indiji u 13. stoljeću redukcijom kalamina organskim tvarima poput vune. Metal je u Europi ponovno otkrio Andreas Sigismund Marggraf 1746. Zagrijao je smjesu rude kalamina i ugljika u zatvorenoj posudi bez bakra kako bi proizveo metal.

In 1871, existence of gallium was first predicted by Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev and called the element eka-aluminum. Gallium was discovered spectroscopically by French chemist Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in 1875 by its characteristic spectrum in an examination of a sphalerite sample. Later that year, Lecoq obtained the free metal by electrolysis of its hydroxide in potassium hydroxide solution.

1871., ruski kemičar Dmitrij Mendeljejev predvidio je postojanje elementa galija i nazvao ga eka-aluminij. Galij je spektroskopski otkrio francuski kemičar Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran 1875. godine po njegovom karakterističnom spektru pri ispitivanju uzorka sfalerita. Kasnije te godine, Lecoq je dobio slobodni metal elektrolizom njegova hidroksida u otopini kalijeva hidroksida.

In 1869, Dmitri Mendeleev predicted its existence and some of its properties based on its position on his periodic table and called the element eka-silicon. In 1886, Clemens Winkler found the new element along with silver and sulfur, in a rare mineral called argyrodite. The first silicon-germanium alloys were obtained in 1955.

1869., Dmitrij Mendeljejev predvidio je njegovo postojanje i neka njegova svojstva na osnovi njegova položaja u periodnom sustavu i nazvao je element eka-silicij. 1886., Clemens Winkler pronašao je novi element uz srebro i sumpor, u rijetkom mineralu zvanom argirodit. Prve slitine silicija i germanija dobivene su 1955.