The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: moved to Heavy metals. It appears to me that consensus eventually did form around the later proposition. (closed by non-admin page mover) Bobby Cohn (talk) 21:04, 3 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Heavy metal element → Heavy metal (chemistry) – This article has been moved many places over the years with various attempts at disambiguation with other topics listed at heavy metal. While the current WP:NATURAL disambiguation has merit, it is not consistent with similarly titled articles like light metal, trace metal, toxic heavy metal, transition metal, precious metal, base metal, noble metal, native metal, etc. So I think we need to bite the bullet and use parenthetical disambiguation, and the least ambiguous qualifier is simply "chemistry". Mdewman6 (talk) 09:26, 19 November 2024 (UTC) — Relisting. Raladic (talk) 19:17, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

• Oppose for multiple reasons:

1. The page is in a state of flux with more work needed to remove unverified claims plus (slow) discussions to reorganize. Hence a move now would be premature.
2. I do not agree that "chemistry" is appropriate since there are aspects of toxicology, metallurgy etc. Instead "element" is the defining distiction. (Element could be put into brackets.)

More a comment: all the others you mention except light metal are only for elements. Both light metal and metal are not just elements and also not just chemistry. Ldm1954 (talk) 10:22, 19 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Addendum: I just noticed that @HertzDonuts moved the page from Heavy metal (elements) to Heavy metal element on Oct 27th without discussion. I suggest moving it back to what it was. Ldm1954 (talk) 11:32, 19 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

• Support like Mercury (element), I don't think I've heard the term "Heavy metal element" so seems to be obscure per WP:NATURAL. Would Heavy metal (element) do instead? which matches mercury. Crouch, Swale (talk) 18:32, 19 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

  I will support Heavy metal (element), with the additional comment that then Silicon (element) and Phosphorus (element) should be the disambiguation so everything is consistent. I searched most of the "element" pages, and did not see any more but there might be. Ldm1954 (talk) 19:28, 19 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

• Propose Heavy metal (elements) — term refers to a class of elements, rather than a single element. Preimage (talk) 09:51, 20 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

  Actually, Heavy metals might be a better name, see WP:Article titles#When a spelling variant indicates a distinct topic and WP:DIFFPLURAL. Looks like @HertzDonuts moved the page from Heavy metals to Heavy metal (elements) on Aug 6th. Edit summary was "singular title", which as detailed by those WP help links, doesn't necessarily apply here. Preimage (talk) 10:03, 20 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

  I am OK with Heavy metal(s) (element(s)), all 4 options with and without the "s". I strongly oppose just Heavy metal(s). This page only discusss the elements, and most metals contain multiple elements. There are pages such as Metal, Refractory metal, Type metal, White metal in all of which there is no "element" in the name as they are more general and include alloys. Ldm1954 (talk) 10:19, 20 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

• Agree with above proposals that Heavy metal (element) is a good title. The title of this page is an issue I've deliberated about for a while, that's why I made the moves. Using (element) as the distinguisher, then hypothetically there could be other future articles such as Heavy metal (toxicology) and Heavy metal (metallurgy). Singular title would also be consistent with other articles such as Alkali metal, Poor metal, etc. Still unsure if it should be (element) or (elements) but I lean towards (element) since it's better to lean towards singular forms in titles; I understand it is a group of elements, but saying "heavy metal element" in singular form is still valid. HertzDonuts (talk) 14:43, 23 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

  Changed my mind to move to Heavy metals, because of WP:DIFFPLURAL and previous discussions linked below. HertzDonuts (talk) 22:36, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

To editors Mdewman6, Crouch, Swale, Preimage and HertzDonuts: it looks like there is enough concensus to support a move (in fact a revert) to Heavy metal (element). The only question remaining for me is whether we just WP:BEBOLD & change any other pages to be consistent or does that need an RfC? Ldm1954 (talk) 09:26, 25 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Well at least its consistent with mercury, I'm not sure about a RFC as I don't know about other pages but I think the main point of this RM is that there is consensus not to use the current natural disambiguation and that the qualifier "element" in the singular is the best choice. Crouch, Swale (talk) 09:31, 25 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

We've been following the potentially controversial moves process, which provides a week for discussion (given sufficient participation; the proposed move's been signposted at WP:Requested moves/Current discussions and WP:WikiProject Elements#Article alerts). Provided they agree re: consensus, I expect an administrator (or other non-involved editor) to close the discussion in 1 day's time. Any resulting page move will leave a redirect from the current title Heavy metal element. So I imagine we'd only need to directly change a handful of other pages, e.g. the DAB page Heavy metal. In any case, move cleanup shouldn't require going through another comment process; we can discuss further here if needed. Preimage (talk) 11:11, 25 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Looking back to past moves here, it looks like the issue with Heavy metal (element) was that it made it sound like the article was about a specific element (like, mercury (element)) and we should not have the name carry that connotation. I somewhat agree there. I think Heavy metals would be acceptable per WP:PLURAL but would not be consistent with similar articles. So I think we should find the right disambiguator, either "element" or "chemistry" or something else. If there are other pages that appear to then require moving, there should be a subsequent RM to ensure consensus. I'm not sure what other pages would be affected by our choice here, though? Mdewman6 (talk) 01:07, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

If there isn't support for "chemistry" I would support a move back to "(elements)". Mdewman6 (talk) 01:11, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Support original proposal: including the word "chemistry" is clearer and more helpful than the other suggestions.---Ehrenkater (talk) 09:30, 25 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

One additional comment about "(chemistry)". Consider 14 carat gold. It is heavy, a metal, a chemical but not an element so it does not belong here with "(element)". Ldm1954 (talk) 13:41, 25 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That would be a mixture, not a chemical substance. HertzDonuts (talk) 22:33, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, it is not a mixture, there is definite bonding between the Au and alloying elements. Ldm1954 (talk) 22:54, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Minor addition; the bonding is not just entropy of mixing or VdW. A Bader charge analysis will show minor charge transfer. Ldm1954 (talk) 23:01, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Note: WikiProject Chemistry and WikiProject Elements have been notified of this discussion. Raladic (talk) 19:17, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

• Do not keep at this title. At best, this is a malformed disambiguation; this construct reads awkwardly and is never used in scientific texts. I would support a move to either Heavy metal (element) or Heavy metals but do not have a strong preference so long as the new title is MOS-compliant. ^Complex/_Rational 20:00, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• rename back to heavy metals which was the result of a previous discussion. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 20:11, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Move to Heavy metals in agreement with the previous discussion. The plural is natural and covered by WP:DIFFPLURAL, i.e. the singular is ambiguous, but the plural is primary for the set of metallic elements considered "heavy". In terms of consistency, I think a parenthetical disambiguation and the plural are both inconsistent, but the plural has the edge on natural-ness and length. ― Synpath 21:09, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

  I didn't know about the previous discussion, and agree that this falls under WP:DIFFPLURAL; I now support Move to Heavy metals. HertzDonuts (talk) 22:37, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Move to Heavy metals. WP:DIFFPLURAL seems to solve the problem nicely. </MarkiPoli> <talk /><cont /> 10:51, 27 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]