who discovered selenium

Selenium was discovered in 1817 by the Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius.

Quick Scoop

• Selenium is a chemical element with the symbol Se and atomic number 34.

• Berzelius noticed a strange red-brown deposit while producing sulphuric acid in a chemical plant in Sweden.

• At first, he thought it was tellurium or an arsenic impurity, but tests showed it was a new element.

• He named it “selenium” from the Greek word selene (moon), paralleling tellurium, which is named after Earth.

How the Discovery Happened

• Berzelius was working with pyrite ores in a sulphuric acid plant when a red sediment with a horseradish-like smell appeared in the lead chambers.

• Detailed analysis convinced him this substance was neither arsenic nor tellurium but a new element with properties between sulphur and tellurium.

A Tiny Element, Big Impact

• Selenium occurs only in small amounts in certain minerals and often appears as an impurity in metal sulfide ores.

• It later became important in technologies such as light-sensitive cells and photophones after its unusual electrical response to light was discovered in the 19th century.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.