The phrase "a small element in" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a minor part or component within a larger context or system.
Example: "The new feature is just a small element in the overall design of the software."
Alternatives: "a minor component in" or "a tiny part of".
Dr. Mann's findings are but a small element in a vast body of scientific research suggesting that human society is running a serious risk with the planet.
While recovering in hospital, he devised the Ostom-i using a small element in a Nintendo Wii handset that could accurately meaure pouch fullness by sensing the arc in the bag's external curvature.
The schools accept that today's sky-high Internet valuations may be due an adjustment and that many of their Internet shooting stars will crash to earth - indeed, learning from failure, a small element in traditional courses, is an essential and salutary part of the experience.
It is true that a little Worcestershire Sauce was in the original dressing, and that "anchovy extract" is a small element in Worcestershire Sauce.
The stress state of a small element is in the combined stress state of a bending stress σ x and a shearing stress as shown in Figure 3. Mohr's stress circle of this small element is shown in Figure 4. Since the first principal stress and the second principal stress have opposite signs, the biaxial stress ratio becomes negative.
It's fashionable to blame deregulation for all this annoyance, and there is a small element of truth in that.
On top of that, there is even a small element of romance in Doctor Strange.
"It also shows how much impact a small element can have in a bigger system".
Finally, we have not excluded a small element of BAT activation in humans in response to glucagon administration, and the effects of chronic glucagon receptor activation on BAT mass and function in humans also remain unknown.
That's the real indictment.James TalleyEuropean R&DSIR - R&D is not an end in itself, but a relatively small element in innovation ("When growth and social protections clash", Economist.com, October 27th).
The former Faber poetry editor has been a doughty defender of TS Eliot against charges of antisemitism and says another of his ambitions for Areté was that it might have a "small element of Private Eye in it – that people should be mildly afraid".
