Chemical element same atomic number, or number of protons. Nuclear scientists, however, define a pure element as one that consists of only one stable isotope. For example, a copper wire is 99.99% chemically pure if 99.99% of its atoms are copper, with 29 protons each. However it is not isotopically pure since ordinary copper consists of two stable isotopes, 69% Cu and 31% Cu, with different numbers of neutrons. However, a pure gold ingot would be both chemically and isotopically pure, since ordinary gold consists only of one isotope, Au. Atoms of chemically pure elements may bond to each other chemically in
Naming of chemical elements after Amerigo Vespucci The non-transuranic element samarium is named after Vasili Samarsky-Bykhovets, and gadolinium is indirectly named (via the mineral gadolinite), after Johan Gadolin. Lecoq de Boisbaudran, who named the element gallium after his native land of France (from Latin "Gallia" meaning Gaul) denied that the element's naming was for a pun on his own name ("le coq" means "the rooster" in French, as does "gallus" in Latin). Some chemical elements are named after places on the planet earth. Five are named after currently existing countries – polonium (named after Poland), francium and gallium (named after France), nihonium (named after