Symbols And Rules
Introduction :
In order to represent the elements, instead of using full lengthy names, scientists use abbreviated names. These abbreviated names of the elements are known as symbols.As you denote '+' is a symbol to addition and '' is a symbol for division in mathematics similarly each element is denoted by a symbol in chemistry. Thus, symbol may be defined as the abbreviation used for the name of an element.
NOTE : The abbreviation used for the name of an element is more precisely known as chemical symbol of that element.
Definition of Symbol:
A symbol is defined as an abbreviation or Short hand notation of full name of an element . Significance of a Symbol
A symbol signifies the Qualitative and Quantitative measure of an element
Qualitative Significance :
Qualitatively symbol represents a specific element only and no two elements will have same symbol
A symbol represents one atom of an Element
For example "C" stands for carbon, Qualitatively it means that symbol "C" signifies only carbon and no other element will have the symbol " C" and symbol "C" represents one atom of Carbon Qualitatively
Quantitative Significance :
Quantitatively symbol represents atomic mass of an element
For example "C" stands for carbon, Quantitatively symbol "C" signifies atomic mass of Carbon.