Thorium was discovered by the Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1828–1829.

Quick Scoop

  • Discoverer : Jöns Jacob Berzelius, a leading Swedish chemist of the early 19th century.
  • When : Around 1828–1829, after he analyzed an unusual black mineral.
  • Where the mineral came from : The mineral was found in Norway by Morten Thrane Esmark (a priest and amateur mineralogist) and sent on for study.
  • Name origin : Berzelius named the new element thorium (and the mineral thorite) after Thor, the Norse god of thunder.

In short, when someone asks “who discovered thorium,” the credited answer is Jöns Jacob Berzelius , working from a Norwegian mineral sample that turned out to contain a completely new element.

TL;DR: Thorium is credited to Jöns Jacob Berzelius, who identified it as a new element in a Norwegian mineral and named it after the Norse god Thor.

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