Chemical Element: cadmium

(Modern Latin: chemical element; from Greek and Latin, cadmia, earthy or earth; metal)

Chemical-Element Information

Symbol: Cd
Atomic number: 48
Year discovered: 1817

Discovered by: Friedrich Strohmeyer (1776-1835), a German chemist.


  • Cadmium was discovered by Friedrich Stromeyer in 1817 from an impurity in zinc carbonate.
  • He analyzed a bottle in an apothecary’s shop that contained zinc caronate.
  • He noted that these particular samples turned yellow when heated, while pure zinc carbonate does not.
  • He was persistent enough to follow this observation through and he eventually isolated some cadmium metal.
  • Storage batteries using cadmium as one element have much longer lives than those using lead elements; and they have other advantages with respect to weight and the ability to be stored in a discharged condition.

Name in other languages:

French: cadmium

German: Cadmium

Italian: cadmio

Spanish: cadmio


Information about other elements may be seen at this Chemical Elements List.

A special unit about words that include chemo-, chem- may be seen here.