The moon.
The chemical aspect selenium takes its title from selene, the Greek phrase for ‘moon’. The title was chosen by Jöns Jakob Berzelius, a Swedish chemist who is taken into account one of many founders of contemporary chemistry. He found selenium in 1817 when he was investigating the by-products of sulfuric acid manufacturing.
Selenium was named to observe the precedent set by the aspect tellurium, which Berzelius’s colleague, Martin Heinrich Klaproth, named after the Latin phrase for Earth (“tellus”). As a result of selenium was just like tellurium however much less dense, Berzelius determined to call it after the moon, reflecting the heavenly physique’s perceived lesser ‘weight’ in comparison with Earth.
Selenium is a nonmetal with the chemical image Se and atomic quantity 34. It’s a flexible aspect utilized in a wide range of functions. It has photoconductive and photovoltaic properties, making it helpful in photocells, photocopiers, and photo voltaic cells. Selenium can be essential in glass manufacturing to take away shade, and it’s used as a pigment in plastics and ceramics. In biology, selenium is a necessary hint aspect that performs a vital function in human well being, together with the perform of the immune system and thyroid gland. Nonetheless, it’s poisonous in massive portions.