Selenium: historical information

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Selenium was discovered by Jöns Berzelius at 1817 in Sweden. Origin of name: from the Greek word "selene" meaning "moon". Further information on origin of name and discovery dates

Selenium (Gr. Selen, moon) was discovered by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1817. He reported that tellurium was present in sulphuric acid from a Swedish factory, but in the following year decided that the impurity was not tellurium but another closely related element that he subsequently identified as selenium.

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selenium atomic number