Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 19, 2026

Davyum

Davyum was the proposed name for a chemical element found by chemist Serge Kern in 1877. It was shown that the material was a mixture of iridium and rhodium. In 1950 it was proposed that the new metal might also have contained rhenium, which had not been discovered in Kern's time.

Last revised
Jun 19, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
164 w
Citations
5
Source
Wikipedia ↗

Davyum was the proposed name for a chemical element found by chemist Serge Kern in 1877.123 It was shown that the material was a mixture of iridium and rhodium.4 In 1950 it was proposed that the new metal might also have contained rhenium, which had not been discovered in Kern's time.5

The proposed name paid homage to the acclaimed British chemist Sir Humphry Davy, who himself had discovered a multitude of elements, including sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium.

References

References

  1. Kern, Serge (1877). "On a new metal, davyum". Philosophical Magazine. Series 5. 4 (23): 158–159. doi:10.1080/14786447708639315.
  2. Kern, Serge (1877). "On a new metal, davyum". Philosophical Magazine. Series 5. 4 (26): 395–396. doi:10.1080/14786447708639360.
  3. "Davyum1". Nature. 17 (430): 245–246. 1878. Bibcode:1878Natur..17..245.. doi:10.1038/017245a0.
  4. Swjaginzew, O.; Korsunski, M.; Seljakow, N. (1927). "Dwimangan in Platinerzen". Zeitschrift für Angewandte Chemie. 40 (9): 256. Bibcode:1927AngCh..40..256S. doi:10.1002/ange.19270400905.
  5. Friend, J. Newton; Druce, J. G. F. (1950). "Davyum, a Possible Precursor of Rhenium (Element 75)". Nature. 165 (4203): 819. Bibcode:1950Natur.165..819F. doi:10.1038/165819a0. PMID 15423460. S2CID 1276756.