What is the longest common word that consists of only the letter combinations found on the periodic table? For example: "Ac Ce P Ta N Ce" could be used, or "Al Li Te Ra Ti O N" because the abbreviations for the chemical elements can make the letter combinations.

The longest word, with 23 letters, my computer program could come up with is

N O N Re P Re Se N Ta Ti O N Al I Sm S

A somewhat shorter (19 letters) word is

U Nd Er Re P Re Se N Ta Ti O N

The longest words in my word list that could be formed without repeating any given chemical symbol are

H Y P Er Co Ag U La Bi Li Ti Es
H Y P Er Co N Sc I O U Sn Es Se S

(each with 20 letters).

Maybe somewhat more common would the the 18-letter

H Y P Er N At I O Na Li S Ti C

Here are some words, starting with 17-letter words.  The ones where no symbol is repeated are marked *****.  Only one way is shown for any given word, though some can be formed in multiple ways.  If it can be done without repeating any given symbol, that way is shown rather than a way that uses repeated chemical symbols.

17
ArCHCONSErVAtIVEs
AtRaBiLiOUSnEsSeS *****
BLaSPHeMoUSNEsSEs
BrONCHoPNeUMoNiAs *****
CArCINOGeNICITiEs
CeReMoNiOUSnEsSeS *****
CHeMoPrOPHYLaCTiC
CLaNdEsTiNeNEsSEs
CONSPICUOUSNEsSEs
CONSUBSTaNTiAtION
CONTaINErISAtIONS
CONTeNTiOUSNEsSEs
COUNTeRaCCUSAtION
COUNTeReSPIONAgEs
COUNTeRhYPOThEsEs
CoUNTeRhYPoThEsIS *****
CrYOPReSErVAtIONS
FISSIPArOUSNEsSEs
HoMoGeNeOUSnEsSeS *****
HOUSeWIFeLiNEsSEs
HYPErINFLaTiONArY
HYPErINNErVAtIONS
HYPErReAcTiVITiEs
InAcCeSSiBiLiTiEs *****
INaPPLiCaBILiTiEs
InCAlCuLaBiLiTiEs *****
INCONSPICUOUSNEsS
INdIGeSTiBILiTiEs
INdISSOLuBILiTiEs
INeFFICAcIOUSNEsS
INSTaNTaNeOUSNEsS
INTeRaSSOCIAtIONS
InTeRnAtIONaLiSeS *****
InTeRnAtIONaLiSmS *****
IrReFRaGaBiLiTiEs *****
IrReSISTiBILiTiEs
IrReVErSiBiLiTiEs *****
MoUNTaINOUSNEsSEs
NONCONFrONTaTiONS
NONeCClEsIAsTiCAl
NONPArTiCIPAtIONS
NONPrOLiFErAtIONS
NONSeNSICAlNEsSEs
OPPrOBrIOUSNEsSEs
OVErAmBITiOUSNEsS
OVErFAmILiArITiEs
OVErPReSCrIPTiONS
OVErSeNSITiVITiEs
OVErSUBSCrIPTiONS
OVOVIVIPArOUSNEsS
PaRaPrOFEsSIONAlS
PErSPICAcIOUSNEsS
PErSPICUOUSNEsSEs
PEsTiFErOUSNEsSEs
PReCErTiFICAtIONS
PReCIPITaTeNEsSEs
PReTeNTiOUSnEsSeS *****
PuNCTiLiOUSnEsSeS *****
ReClAsSiFICaTiONS *****
ReCoNCILaBiLiTiEs *****
ReVOLuTiONArINEsS
SAcCHArIFICAtIONS
SeNTeNTiOUSNEsSEs
SPONTaNeOUSNEsSEs
STaNdOFFISHNEsSEs
SUBClAsSiFICaTiON *****
SUBSTaNTiAlNEsSEs
SUPErFeCUNdAtIONS
SUPErFLuOUSNEsSEs
SUPErNAtURaLiSTiC
SUPErPLaSTiCITiEs
SUPPReSSIBILiTiEs
SUPRaNAtIONAlISmS
ThErMoSTaBiLiTiEs *****
TiNTiNNaBULaTiONS
UNaCCePTaBiLiTiEs *****
UNCeReMoNIOUSNEsS
UNCONSCIOUSNEsSEs
UNPReTeNTiOUSNEsS
UNSOPHISTiCAtIONS

18
CaNTaNKErOUSNEsSEs
CONSUBSTaNTiAtIONS
COUNTeRaCCUSAtIONS
HYPErCoNScIOUSnEsS *****
HYPErNAtIONaLiSTiC *****
HYPErRaTiONAlITiEs
HYPErSeNSITiVITiEs
InArTiCuLaTeNEsSeS *****
INAuSPICIOUSNEsSEs
InCoNTeSTaBiLiTiEs *****
INCONVErTiBILiTiEs
InHArMoNiOUSnEsSeS *****
INSUBSTaNTiAlITiEs
INSUSCePTiBILiTiEs
InTeRnAtIONaLiTiEs *****
IrRePReSSIBILiTiEs
IrReSPoNSiBiLiTiEs *****
LaNdLuBBErLiNEsSEs
NONCONFrONTaTiONAl
NONRePReSeNTaTiVEs
NONReVOLuTiONArIEs
OsTeNTaTiOUSnEsSeS *****
OVErCLaSSIFICAtION
OVErRePReSeNTaTiON
PErTiNaCIOUSnEsSeS *****
RePReHeNSIBILiTiEs
RePReSeNTaTiVITiEs
SUBCLaSSIFICAtIONS
SUBCONSCIOUSNEsSEs
SUPErCILiOUSNEsSEs
SUPErSeNSITiVITiEs
SUPRaNAtIONaLiTiEs *****
ThErMoPLaSTiCITiEs
UNAcCOUNTaBILiTiEs
UNSUBSTaNTiAlITiEs

19
INCONSPICUOUSNEsSEs
INeFFICAcIOUSNEsSEs
INSTaNTaNeOUSNEsSEs
IrReCoNCILaBiLiTiEs *****
NONRePReSeNTaTiONAl
OVErAmBITiOUSNEsSEs
OVErCLaSSIFICAtIONS
OVErRePReSeNTaTiONS
OVOVIVIPArOUSNEsSEs
PErSPICAcIOUSNEsSEs
PHOSPHOMoNOEsTeRaSe
RePReSeNTaTiONAlISm
ReVOLuTiONArINEsSEs
SUPErCONdUCTiVITiEs
UNCeReMoNIOUSNEsSEs
UNCONSCIONaBILiTiEs
UNdErRePReSeNTaTiON
UNPReTeNTiOUSNEsSEs

20
HYPErCoAgULaBiLiTiEs *****
HYPErCoNScIOUSnEsSeS *****
PHOSPHOMoNOEsTeRaSEs
RePReSeNTaTiONAlISmS
UNdErRePReSeNTaTiONS

21
HYPErSUSCePTiBILiTiEs

22
NONRePReSeNTaTiONAlISm

23
NONRePReSeNTaTiONAlISmS

DECLARE SUB findW ()
CLEAR , , 7000

DIM SHARED w$, upto, ct, nsymb, psymb(22)
DIM SHARED s$(111)
OPEN "elemsymb.txt" FOR INPUT AS #1

FOR i = 1 TO 111
  LINE INPUT #1, l$
  s$(i) = MID$(l$, 15)
NEXT
CLOSE

OPEN "chemwds.txt" FOR OUTPUT AS #2

FOR sz = 12 TO 24
  PRINT sz
  OPEN "\words\words" + LTRIM$(STR$(sz)) + ".txt" FOR BINARY AS #1
  w$ = SPACE$(sz)
  DO
   GET #1, , w$
   IF EOF(1) THEN EXIT DO
   upto = 0
   findW
  LOOP
  CLOSE 1
NEXT sz

CLOSE

SUB findW
  nsymb = nsymb + 1
  letter$ = MID$(w$, upto + 1, 1)
  FOR i = 1 TO 111
    IF letter$ = s$(i) THEN
      upto = upto + 1
      psymb(nsymb) = upto
      IF upto = LEN(w$) THEN
       GOSUB checkword
      ELSE
       findW
      END IF
      upto = upto - 1
      EXIT FOR
    END IF
  NEXT
  w$ = LCASE$(w$)
  IF upto < LEN(w$) - 1 THEN
    letter$ = MID$(w$, upto + 1, 2)
    FOR i = 1 TO 111
      IF letter$ = s$(i) THEN
        upto = upto + 2
        psymb(nsymb) = upto - 1
        IF upto = LEN(w$) THEN
         GOSUB checkword
        ELSE
         findW
        END IF
        upto = upto - 2
        EXIT FOR
      END IF
    NEXT
  END IF
  nsymb = nsymb - 1
  EXIT SUB

checkword:
 ct = ct + 1
 FOR j = 1 TO nsymb
   p = psymb(j)
   MID$(w$, p, 1) = UCASE$(MID$(w$, p, 1))
 NEXT
 rept = 0
 FOR j = 1 TO nsymb
   p = psymb(j)
   IF j > 1 THEN
     tst$ = MID$(w$, prevP, p - prevP)
     IF INSTR(p, w$, tst$) THEN
      IF LEN(tst$) = 2 THEN
       rept = 1
      ELSE
        p2 = p
        DO
          nxtP = INSTR(p2, w$, tst$)
          IF nxtP = 0 THEN EXIT DO
          IF nxtP = LEN(w$) THEN
           rept = 1: EXIT DO
          ELSEIF MID$(w$, nxtP + 1, 1) = UCASE$(MID$(w$, nxtP + 1, 1)) THEN
           rept = 1: EXIT DO
          END IF
          p2 = nxtP + 1
        LOOP
      END IF
     END IF
   END IF
   prevP = p
 NEXT
 PRINT ct, w$;
 PRINT #2, w$;
 IF rept = 0 THEN PRINT "  *****": PRINT #2, " *****":  ELSE PRINT : PRINT #2,
RETURN

END SUB

A separate program selected what version of a word to present when there was more than one way of producing a given word. The input file of chemical symbols to the program shown had the symbols in lower case.

 

Posted by Charlie on 2006-05-11 13:49:54