Nickel, atomic number 28, was not discovered as an element until the 1750s although it has been in use since ancient times. In Saxony of Germany, the miners reported the presence of a dark red ore with a green coating, which caused irritation to them. They believed that this was an ore of copper, but they could not extract any copper from it. They thought that it was the work of some goblins which was preventing them from extracting copper. As a result, they named it ‘kupfernickel’, which is translated as ‘goblin’s copper’.
Between the years 1751 and 1754, Axel Cronstedt, a Swedish chemist conducted many experiments to find out the true nature of kupfernickel. He found out that this new compound did not yield the results a copper compound would yield and that it resulted in a hard white metal upon being heated with charcoal. This made Cronstedt conclude that he had found a new element. As a result, he named the new element nickel based on kupfernickel from which he isolated it.
Picture Credit : Google
