Further reading

•Robert Siegfried (2002), From elements to atoms: a history of chemical composition, American Philosophical Society, ISBN 978-
0-87169-924-4

External links
Look up chemical compound in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chemical compounds.

 compound can be converted to a different chemical composition by interaction with a second chemical compound via a chemical
reaction. In this process, bonds between atoms are broken in both of the interacting compounds, and new bonds formed.

In chemistry, an element is a pure substance which cannot be broken by chemical means, consisting of atoms which have
identical numbers of protons in their atomic nuclei. The number of protons in the nucleus is the defining property of an element,
and is referred to as the atomic number (represented by the symbol Z).[1] Chemical elements constitute all of
the baryonic matter of the universe.

In total, 118 elements have been identified. The first 94 occur naturally on Earth, and the remaining 24 are synthetic
elements produced in nuclear reactions. Save for unstable radioactive elements (radionuclides) which decay quickly, nearly all of
the elements are available industrially in varying amounts. When different elements are combined, they may produce a chemical
reaction and form into compounds due to chemical bonds holding the constituent atoms together. Only a minority of elements are
found uncombined as relatively pure native element minerals. Nearly all other naturally-occurring elements appear as compounds
or mixtures; for example, atmospheric air is primarily a mixture of the elements nitrogen, oxygen, and argonhe history of the
discovery and use of the elements began with primitive human societies that discovered native minerals
like carbon, sulfur, copper and gold (though the concept of a chemical element was not yet understood). Attempts to classify
materials such as these resulted in the concepts of classical elements, alchemy, and various similar theories throughout human
histor

Much of the modern understanding of elements is attributed to Dmitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist who published the first
recognizable periodic table in 1869. The properties of the chemical elements are summarized in this table, which organizes them
by increasing atomic number into rows ("periods") in which the columns ("groups") share recurring ("periodic") physical and 

Much of the modern understanding of elements is attributed to Dmitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist who published the first
recognizable periodic table in 1869. The properties of the chemical elements are summarized this tabich organizes them b
increasing atomic number into rows ("periods") in which the columns ("groups") share recurring ("periodic") physical and chemical
properties. The use of the periodic table allows chemists to derive relationships between various elements and predict the
behavior of theoretical but undiscovered new ones; the discovery and synthesis of further new elements is an ongoing area of
scientific study.