Question

Give the qualitative and quantitative meaning of the term ‘symbol’.

Answer 1

Qualitative meaning: C is the symbol of an atom of the element carbon
S is the symbol of the atom of element sulphur.
This means symbols stand for a specific element.
No two elements can have the same symbol.
Quantitative meaning: A symbol also represents the quantity of the element i.e. atomic mass of the element. Symbol C represents 12 g of carbon. In other words how many times that element is heavier than `1/12` th C¹²