Kemijski su elementi tijekom povijesti bili postupno otkrivani, a neki su čovjeku bili poznati još od davnina.
+Otkrića kemijskih elemenataNaziv elementaSimbol elementaAtomski broj25pxGodina otkrićaOtkrivač aktinij Ac 89 25px 1899. André Louis Debierne aluminij Al 13 1825. Friedrich Wöhler americij Am 95 25px 1944. Glenn Theodore Seaborg, Ralph Arthur James, Leon O. Morgan i Albert Ghiorso antimon Sb 51 poznat od davnina argon Ar 18 1894. John William Strutt, III. barun Rayleigh i Sir William Ramsay arsen As 33 1250. Albertus Magnus astat At 85 25px 1940. Dale R. Corson, K. R. MacKenzie i Emilio Gino Segré bakar Cu 29 poznat od davnina barij Ba 56 1808. Sir Humphry Davy berilij Be 4 1797. Louis Nicolas Vauquelin berkelij Bk 97 25px 1949. Albert Ghiorso, Stanley G. Thompson i Glenn Theodore Seaborg bizmut Bi 83 1753. Claude François Geoffroy bohrij Bh 107 25px 1981. Gottfried Münzenberg i Peter Armbruster bor B 5 1808. Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac i Louis Jacques Thénard brom Br 35 1826. Antoine Jérôme Balard cerij Ce 58 1803. Jöns Jakob Berzelius, Wilhelm Hisinger i Martin Heinrich Klaproth cezij Cs 55 1860. Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen i Gustav Robert Kirchhoff cink Zn 30 poznat od davnina cirkonij Zr 40 1789. Martin Heinrich Klaproth darmstadij Ds 110 25px 1994. Sigurd Hofmann, Gottfried Münzenberg i Peter Armbruster disprozij Dy 66 1886. Paul Émile (François) Lecoq de Boisbaudran dubnij Db 105 25px 1970. Georgii Nikolayevich Flerov i suradnici dušik N 7 1772. Daniel Rutherford einsteinij Es 99 25px 1952. Albert Ghiorso erbij Er 68 1843. Carl Gustaf Mosander europij Eu 63 1896. Eugène Anatole Demarçay fermij Fm 100 25px 1952. Glenn Theodore Seaborg i dr. fluor F 9 1866. Ferdinand Frederick Henri Moissan fosfor P 15 1669. Hennig Brand francij Fr 87 25px 1940. Marguerite Catherine Perey gadolinij Gd 64 1880. Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac galij Ga 31 1875. Paul Émile (François) Lecoq de Boisbaudran germanij Ge 32 1886. Clemens Alexander Winkler hafnij Hf 72 1923. Dirk Coster i Georg Karl von Hevesy (Hevesy György) hassij Hs 108 25px 1984. Gottfried Münzenberg i Peter Armbruster helij He 2 1895. Sir William Ramsay holmij Ho 67 1879. Per Teodor Cleve indij In 49 1863. Ferdinand Reich i Hieronymus Theodor Richter iridij Ir 77 1803. Smithson Tennant iterbij Yb 70 1878. Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac itrij Y 39 1794. Johan Gadolin jod I 53 1811. Bernard Courtois kadmij Cd 48 1817. Friedrich Stromeyer kalcij Ca 20 1808. Sir Humphry Davy kalifornij Cf 98 25px 1950. Stanley G. Thompson, Kenneth Street, Jr., Albert Ghiorso i Glenn Theodore Seaborg kalij K 19 1807. Sir Humphry Davy kisik O 8 1774. Joseph Priestley i Carl Wilhelm Scheele klor Cl 17 1774. Carl Wilhelm Scheele kobalt Co 27 1735. Georg Brandt kositar Sn 50 poznat od davnina kripton Kr 36 1898. Sir William Ramsay i Morris William Travers krom Cr 24 1797. Louis Nicolas Vauquelin ksenon Xe 54 1898. Sir William Ramsay i Morris William Travers kurij Cm 96 25px 1944. Glenn Theodore Seaborg, Ralph Arthur James i Albert Ghiorso lantan La 57 1839. Carl Gustaf Mosander lavrencij Lr 103 25px 1961. Albert Ghiorso, Torbjørn Sikkeland, Almon Larsh i Robert M. Latimer litij Li 3 1817. Johan August Arfwedson lutecij Lu 71 1907. Georges Urbain i Carl Auer Freiherr von Welsbach magnezij Mg 12 1808. Sir Humphry Davy mangan Mn 25 1774. Johan Gottlieb Gahn i Carl Wilhelm Scheele meitnerij Mt 109 25px 1982. Gottfried Münzenberg i Peter Armbruster mendelevij Md 101 25px 1955. Albert Ghiorso, Glenn Theodore Seaborg, Bernard G. Harvey, Greg R. Choppin i Stanley G. Thompson molibden Mo 42 1778. Carl Wilhelm Scheele natrij Na 11 1807. Sir Humphry Davy neodimij Nd 60 1885. Carl Auer Freiherr von Welsbach neon Ne 10 1898. Sir William Ramsay i Morris William Travers neptunij Np 93 25px 1940. Edwin Mattison McMillan i Philip Hauge Abelson nikal Ni 28 1751. Axel Fredrik Cronstedt niobij Nb 41 1801. Charles Hatchett nobelij No 102 25px 1957. H. Herding, W. Forsling, Albert Ghiorso, John R. Walton, Torbjørn Sikkeland i Glenn Theodore Seaborg olovo Pb 82 poznato od davnina osmij Os 76 1803. Smithson Tennant paladij Pd 46 1803. William Hyde Wollaston platina Pt 78 1741. Sir Charles Wood, William Brownrigg i Antonio de Ulloa plutonij Pu 94 25px 1940. Glenn Theodore Seaborg, Edwin Mattison McMillan, Joseph William Kennedy i Arthur C. Wahl polonij Po 84 25px 1898. Marie Skłodowska-Curie praseodimij Pr 59 1885. Carl Auer Freiherr von Welsbach prometij Pm 61 25px 1945. Lawrence Elgin Glendenin, Charles DuBois Coryell i Jacob Akiba Marinsky protaktinij Pa 91 25px 1917. (Sir William Crookes); Kazimierz Fajans i O. H. Göhring; Otto Hahn i Lise Meitner; Frederick Soddy i John Cranston radij Ra 88 25px 1898. Pierre Curie i Marie Skłodowska-Curie radon Rn 86 25px 1900. Friedrich Ernst Dorn renij Re 75 1925. Masataka Ogawa; Walter Noddack, Ida Eva Tacke (udana Noddack) i Otto Berg rodij Rh 45 1803. William Hyde Wollaston roentgenij Rg 111 25px 1994. Sigurd Hofmann, Gottfried Münzenberg i Peter Armbruster rubidij Rb 37 1861. Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen i Gustav Robert Kirchhoff rutenij Ru 44 1844. (Jędrzej Śniadecki); Karl Ernst Claus rutherfordij Rf 104 25px 1964. Georgii Nikolayevich Flerov i suradnici samarij Sm 62 1879. Paul Émile (François) Lecoq de Boisbaudran seaborgij Sg 106 25px 1974. Georgii Nikolayevich Flerov i Yuri Tsolakovich Oganessian; Albert Ghiorso i suradnici selenij Se 34 1817. Jöns Jakob Berzelius silicij Si 14 1823. Jöns Jakob Berzelius skandij Sc 21 1879. Lars Fredrik Nilson srebro Ag 47 poznato od davnina stroncij Sr 38 1808. Sir Humphry Davy sumpor S 16 poznat od davnina talij Tl 81 1861. Sir William Crookes tantal Ta 73 1802. Anders Gustaf Ekeberg tehnecij Tc 43 25px 1937. Carlo Perrier i Emilio Gino Segré telurij Te 52 1782. Franz-Joseph Müller Freiherr von Reichenstein terbij Tb 65 1843. Carl Gustaf Mosander titanij Ti 22 1791. William Gregor torij Th 90 25px 1828. Jöns Jakob Berzelius tulij Tm 69 1879. Per Teodor Cleve ugljik C 6 poznat od davnina uranij U 92 25px 1789. Martin Heinrich Klaproth vanadij V 23 1830. Andrés Manuel del Río Fernández; Nils Gabriel Sefström vodik H 1 1766. (Phillip von Hohenheim (Paracelsus)); (Robert Boyle); Henry Cavendish volfram W 74 1783. Juan José Elhuyar Lubize i Fausto de Elhuyar zlato Au 79 poznato od davnina željezo Fe 26 poznato od davnina živa Hg 80 poznata od davnina
Izvori Dr. Ljubiša Grlić, Mali kemijski leksikon, 2. izdanje, Naprijed, Zagreb, 1992., Draginja Mrvoš-Sermek, Nikolina Ribarić, Kemija 8, 1. izdanje, Alfa, Zagreb, 2007., Periodni sustav elemenata u slikama, Školska knjiga, Zagreb, 2004.