Is carbon the first element discovered?
The elements as we know them today were discovered no particular order. THere is no schedule for the discovery. Metals such as gold, silver, lead, copper and iron were among the first as they were found in a pure state in nature and were immediately useful to people. Other elements like sulfur and carbon while not metals are found pure in nature. Even later were elements that needed preparation to separate them from other materials – as an example the gases and reactive metals and non metals. Finally the short lived radioactives and rare gases were identified.
