Take a look at the following diagram, called the "Fire Triangle"
Oxygen, heat, and fuel are frequently referred to as the "fire triangle." Add in the fourth element, the chemical reaction, and you actually have a fire "tetrahedron." The important thing to remember is: take any of these four things away, and you will not have a fire or the fire will be extinguished.
Essentially, fire extinguishers put out fire by taking away one or more elements of the fire triangle/tetrahedron.
Fire safety, at its most basic, is based upon the principle of keeping fuel sources and ignition sources separate.
List of chemical symbols
Most chemical elements are represented symbolically by two letters, generally the first two in their name. In some cases, the first letter together with some other letter from their name was used, particularly when their first two letters had already been allocated to another element. A very few elements have symbols which appear to have no relationship with their names. In those cases, the origin of the symbol used is given.
Chemical symbol | Name of Element | Atomic No | Origin of Symbol |
Ac | Actinium | 89 | |
Ag | Silver | 47 | From the Latin Argentumwhich originally meant shining metal |
Al | Aluminium | 13 | |
Am | Americium | 95 | |
Ar | Argon | 18 | |
As | Arsenic | 33 | |
At | Astatine | 85 | |
Au | Gold | 79 | From the Latin Aurum which originally meant yellow |
B | Boron | 5 | |
Ba | Barium | 56 | |
Be | Beryllium | 4 | |
Bh | Bhorium | 107 | |
Bi | Bismuth | 83 | |
Bk | Berkelium | 97 | |
Br | Bromine | 35 | |
C | Carbon | 6 | |
Ca | Calcium | 20 | |
Cd | Cadmium | 48 | |
Ce | Cerium | 58 | |
Cf | Californium | 98 | |
Cl | Chlorine | 17 | |
Cm | Curium | 96 | |
Co | Cobalt | 27 | |
Cr | Chromium | 24 | |
Cs | Caesium | 55 | |
Cu | Copper | 29 | From Cuprum, the Latin name for Cyprus, the Roman source of copper |
Ds | Darmstadtium | 110 | |
Db | Dubnium | 105 | |
Dy | Dysprosium | 66 | |
Er | Erbium | 68 | |
Es | Einsteinium | 99 | |
Eu | Europium | 63 | |
F | Fluorine | 9 | |
Fe | Iron | 26 | From Ferrum, the Latin name for iron |
Fm | Fermium | 100 | |
Fr | Francium | 87 | |
Ga | Gallium | 31 | |
Gd | Gadolinium | 64 | |
Ge | Germanium | 32 | |
H | Hydrogen | 1 | |
He | Helium | 2 | |
Hf | Hafnium | 72 | |
Hg | Mercury | 80 | From the Latin Hydragyrummeaning liquid silver |
Ho | Holmium | 67 | |
Hs | Hassium | 108 | |
I | Iodine | 53 | |
In | Indium | 49 | |
Ir | Iridium | 77 | |
K | Potassium | 19 | From the Latin Kaliummeaning alkali |
Kr | Krypton | 36 | |
La | Lanthanum | 57 | |
Li | Lithium | 3 | |
Lr | Lawrencium | 103 | |
Lu | Lutetium | 71 | |
Md | Mendelevium | 101 | |
Mg | Magnesium | 12 | |
Mn | Manganese | 25 | |
Mo | Molybdenum | 42 | |
Mt | Meitnerium | 109 | |
N | Nitrogen | 7 | |
Na | Sodium | 11 | From Natrium, the Latin namefor sodium carbonate |
Nb | Niobium | 41 | |
Nd | Neodymium | 60 | |
Ne | Neon | 10 | |
Ni | Nickel | 28 | |
No | Nobelium | 102 | |
Np | Neptunium | 93 | |
O | Oxygen | 8 | |
Os | Osmium | 76 | |
P | Phosphorus | 15 | |
Pa | Protactinium | 91 | |
Pb | Lead | 82 | From the Latin Plumbummeaning soft white metal |
Pd | Palladium | 46 | |
Pm | Promethium | 61 | |
Po | Polonium | 84 | |
Pr | Praseodymium | 59 | |
Pt | Platinum | 78 | |
Pu | Plutonium | 94 | |
Ra | Radium | 88 | |
Rb | Rubidium | 37 | |
Re | Rhenium | 75 | |
Rf | Rutherfordium | 104 | |
Rg | Roentgenium | 111 | |
Rh | Rhodium | 45 | |
Rn | Radon | 86 | |
Ru | Ruthenium | 44 | |
S | Sulphur | 16 | |
Sb | Antimony | 51 | From the Latin Stibiummeaning cosmetic powder |
Sc | Scandium | 21 | |
Se | Selenium | 34 | |
Sg | Seaborgium | 106 | |
Si | Silicon | 14 | |
Sm | Samarium | 62 | |
Sn | Tin | 50 | From Stannum, the Latin word for tin |
Sr | Strontium | 38 | |
Ta | Tantalum | 73 | |
Tb | Terbium | 65 | |
Tc | Technetium | 43 | |
Te | Tellurium | 52 | |
Th | Thorium | 90 | |
Ti | Titanium | 22 | |
Tl | Thallium | 81 | |
Tm | Thulium | 69 | |
U | Uranium | 92 | |
V | Vanadium | 23 | |
W | Tungsten | 74 | From Wolfram, an old name for the element derived from its ore, Wolframite |
Xe | Xenon | 54 | |
Y | Yttrium | 39 | |
Yb | Ytterbium | 70 | |
Zn | Zinc | 30 | |
Zr | Zirconium | 40 |
List of chemical symbols
Most chemical elements are represented symbolically by two letters, generally the first two in their name. In some cases, the first letter together with some other letter from their name was used, particularly when their first two letters had already been allocated to another element. A very few elements have symbols which appear to have no relationship with their names. In those cases, the origin of the symbol used is given.
Chemical symbol | Name of Element | Atomic No | Origin of Symbol |
Ac | Actinium | 89 | |
Ag | Silver | 47 | From the Latin Argentumwhich originally meant shining metal |
Al | Aluminium | 13 | |
Am | Americium | 95 | |
Ar | Argon | 18 | |
As | Arsenic | 33 | |
At | Astatine | 85 | |
Au | Gold | 79 | From the Latin Aurum which originally meant yellow |
B | Boron | 5 | |
Ba | Barium | 56 | |
Be | Beryllium | 4 | |
Bh | Bhorium | 107 | |
Bi | Bismuth | 83 | |
Bk | Berkelium | 97 | |
Br | Bromine | 35 | |
C | Carbon | 6 | |
Ca | Calcium | 20 | |
Cd | Cadmium | 48 | |
Ce | Cerium | 58 | |
Cf | Californium | 98 | |
Cl | Chlorine | 17 | |
Cm | Curium | 96 | |
Co | Cobalt | 27 | |
Cr | Chromium | 24 | |
Cs | Caesium | 55 | |
Cu | Copper | 29 | From Cuprum, the Latin name for Cyprus, the Roman source of copper |
Ds | Darmstadtium | 110 | |
Db | Dubnium | 105 | |
Dy | Dysprosium | 66 | |
Er | Erbium | 68 | |
Es | Einsteinium | 99 | |
Eu | Europium | 63 | |
F | Fluorine | 9 | |
Fe | Iron | 26 | From Ferrum, the Latin name for iron |
Fm | Fermium | 100 | |
Fr | Francium | 87 | |
Ga | Gallium | 31 | |
Gd | Gadolinium | 64 | |
Ge | Germanium | 32 | |
H | Hydrogen | 1 | |
He | Helium | 2 | |
Hf | Hafnium | 72 | |
Hg | Mercury | 80 | From the Latin Hydragyrummeaning liquid silver |
Ho | Holmium | 67 | |
Hs | Hassium | 108 | |
I | Iodine | 53 | |
In | Indium | 49 | |
Ir | Iridium | 77 | |
K | Potassium | 19 | From the Latin Kaliummeaning alkali |
Kr | Krypton | 36 | |
La | Lanthanum | 57 | |
Li | Lithium | 3 | |
Lr | Lawrencium | 103 | |
Lu | Lutetium | 71 | |
Md | Mendelevium | 101 | |
Mg | Magnesium | 12 | |
Mn | Manganese | 25 | |
Mo | Molybdenum | 42 | |
Mt | Meitnerium | 109 | |
N | Nitrogen | 7 | |
Na | Sodium | 11 | From Natrium, the Latin namefor sodium carbonate |
Nb | Niobium | 41 | |
Nd | Neodymium | 60 | |
Ne | Neon | 10 | |
Ni | Nickel | 28 | |
No | Nobelium | 102 | |
Np | Neptunium | 93 | |
O | Oxygen | 8 | |
Os | Osmium | 76 | |
P | Phosphorus | 15 | |
Pa | Protactinium | 91 | |
Pb | Lead | 82 | From the Latin Plumbummeaning soft white metal |
Pd | Palladium | 46 | |
Pm | Promethium | 61 | |
Po | Polonium | 84 | |
Pr | Praseodymium | 59 | |
Pt | Platinum | 78 | |
Pu | Plutonium | 94 | |
Ra | Radium | 88 | |
Rb | Rubidium | 37 | |
Re | Rhenium | 75 | |
Rf | Rutherfordium | 104 | |
Rg | Roentgenium | 111 | |
Rh | Rhodium | 45 | |
Rn | Radon | 86 | |
Ru | Ruthenium | 44 | |
S | Sulphur | 16 | |
Sb | Antimony | 51 | From the Latin Stibiummeaning cosmetic powder |
Sc | Scandium | 21 | |
Se | Selenium | 34 | |
Sg | Seaborgium | 106 | |
Si | Silicon | 14 | |
Sm | Samarium | 62 | |
Sn | Tin | 50 | From Stannum, the Latin word for tin |
Sr | Strontium | 38 | |
Ta | Tantalum | 73 | |
Tb | Terbium | 65 | |
Tc | Technetium | 43 | |
Te | Tellurium | 52 | |
Th | Thorium | 90 | |
Ti | Titanium | 22 | |
Tl | Thallium | 81 | |
Tm | Thulium | 69 | |
U | Uranium | 92 | |
V | Vanadium | 23 | |
W | Tungsten | 74 | From Wolfram, an old name for the element derived from its ore, Wolframite |
Xe | Xenon | 54 | |
Y | Yttrium | 39 | |
Yb | Ytterbium | 70 | |
Zn | Zinc | 30 | |
Zr | Zirconium | 40 |