Ways to use this list
- Element of the day: spin at the start of chemistry class, and one student gives the symbol, the atomic number and one everyday use, like neon in glowing signs.
- Symbol sprint: press Tricky symbols and players race to explain each symbol, such as Fe from ferrum, the Latin word for iron.
- Research posters: with Remove the winner on, each student draws a different element and presents who discovered it, how it got its name and where it is found.
- Compound or not: spin two elements and decide whether they would react; sodium and chlorine make table salt, but two noble gases will not join up.
- Periodic table bingo: everyone writes nine of the first 20 elements on a 3 × 3 grid, then press First 20 and spin until someone completes a line.
- Name hunt: yttrium, ytterbium, terbium and erbium are all named after Ytterby, one village in Sweden. Spin and find out what or whom your element is named after.
Press Pull the lever, tap the game or press the Space bar. Change the list in the box as you
like: add your own, delete what doesn't suit you, or write *2 after an entry to give it double the
chance. The game buttons switch the same list to a wheel, duck race, hat and more.
The full list (118 entries)
- Hydrogen (H, 1)
- Helium (He, 2)
- Lithium (Li, 3)
- Beryllium (Be, 4)
- Boron (B, 5)
- Carbon (C, 6)
- Nitrogen (N, 7)
- Oxygen (O, 8)
- Fluorine (F, 9)
- Neon (Ne, 10)
- Sodium (Na, 11)
- Magnesium (Mg, 12)
- Aluminum (Al, 13)
- Silicon (Si, 14)
- Phosphorus (P, 15)
- Sulfur (S, 16)
- Chlorine (Cl, 17)
- Argon (Ar, 18)
- Potassium (K, 19)
- Calcium (Ca, 20)
- Scandium (Sc, 21)
- Titanium (Ti, 22)
- Vanadium (V, 23)
- Chromium (Cr, 24)
- Manganese (Mn, 25)
- Iron (Fe, 26)
- Cobalt (Co, 27)
- Nickel (Ni, 28)
- Copper (Cu, 29)
- Zinc (Zn, 30)
- Gallium (Ga, 31)
- Germanium (Ge, 32)
- Arsenic (As, 33)
- Selenium (Se, 34)
- Bromine (Br, 35)
- Krypton (Kr, 36)
- Rubidium (Rb, 37)
- Strontium (Sr, 38)
- Yttrium (Y, 39)
- Zirconium (Zr, 40)
- Niobium (Nb, 41)
- Molybdenum (Mo, 42)
- Technetium (Tc, 43)
- Ruthenium (Ru, 44)
- Rhodium (Rh, 45)
- Palladium (Pd, 46)
- Silver (Ag, 47)
- Cadmium (Cd, 48)
- Indium (In, 49)
- Tin (Sn, 50)
- Antimony (Sb, 51)
- Tellurium (Te, 52)
- Iodine (I, 53)
- Xenon (Xe, 54)
- Cesium (Cs, 55)
- Barium (Ba, 56)
- Lanthanum (La, 57)
- Cerium (Ce, 58)
- Praseodymium (Pr, 59)
- Neodymium (Nd, 60)
- Promethium (Pm, 61)
- Samarium (Sm, 62)
- Europium (Eu, 63)
- Gadolinium (Gd, 64)
- Terbium (Tb, 65)
- Dysprosium (Dy, 66)
- Holmium (Ho, 67)
- Erbium (Er, 68)
- Thulium (Tm, 69)
- Ytterbium (Yb, 70)
- Lutetium (Lu, 71)
- Hafnium (Hf, 72)
- Tantalum (Ta, 73)
- Tungsten (W, 74)
- Rhenium (Re, 75)
- Osmium (Os, 76)
- Iridium (Ir, 77)
- Platinum (Pt, 78)
- Gold (Au, 79)
- Mercury (Hg, 80)
- Thallium (Tl, 81)
- Lead (Pb, 82)
- Bismuth (Bi, 83)
- Polonium (Po, 84)
- Astatine (At, 85)
- Radon (Rn, 86)
- Francium (Fr, 87)
- Radium (Ra, 88)
- Actinium (Ac, 89)
- Thorium (Th, 90)
- Protactinium (Pa, 91)
- Uranium (U, 92)
- Neptunium (Np, 93)
- Plutonium (Pu, 94)
- Americium (Am, 95)
- Curium (Cm, 96)
- Berkelium (Bk, 97)
- Californium (Cf, 98)
- Einsteinium (Es, 99)
- Fermium (Fm, 100)
- Mendelevium (Md, 101)
- Nobelium (No, 102)
- Lawrencium (Lr, 103)
- Rutherfordium (Rf, 104)
- Dubnium (Db, 105)
- Seaborgium (Sg, 106)
- Bohrium (Bh, 107)
- Hassium (Hs, 108)
- Meitnerium (Mt, 109)
- Darmstadtium (Ds, 110)
- Roentgenium (Rg, 111)
- Copernicium (Cn, 112)
- Nihonium (Nh, 113)
- Flerovium (Fl, 114)
- Moscovium (Mc, 115)
- Livermorium (Lv, 116)
- Tennessine (Ts, 117)
- Oganesson (Og, 118)
Questions people ask
Does it include all 118 elements?
Yes, from hydrogen (1) to oganesson (118), each with its symbol and atomic number. The four newest, nihonium, moscovium, tennessine and oganesson, received their official names in 2016, which completed the seventh row of the periodic table.
Why are some symbols nothing like the element's name?
They come from older names, mostly Latin: Na from natrium (sodium), K from kalium (potassium), Fe from ferrum (iron), Cu from cuprum (copper), Ag from argentum (silver), Sn from stannum (tin), Sb from stibium (antimony), Au from aurum (gold), Hg from hydrargyrum (mercury) and Pb from plumbum (lead). W for tungsten comes from wolfram, its German name. Press Tricky symbols to practise all eleven.
Which elements are gases or liquids at room temperature?
Eleven are gases: hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, chlorine and the six noble gases from helium to radon. Only two are liquids, mercury and bromine. Gallium melts at about 30 °C (86 °F), so it can turn liquid on a hot day. Press Gases at room temp for the eleven.
Why are oganesson and tennessine left off the group buttons?
They sit at the bottom of the noble gas and halogen columns, but only a tiny number of their atoms have ever been made, each lasting a fraction of a second. Nobody has seen how they behave, and calculations suggest oganesson would not even be a gas, so the buttons keep to elements chemists know well.
Why does the list say aluminum, sulfur and cesium?
Those are the American spellings. In British English the usual forms are aluminium and caesium, which are also the main names used by IUPAC, the international body that names the elements. For sulfur, IUPAC uses the f spelling, and British schools now teach it too. Edit those lines in the box if your class uses the British forms.
Which element is the most common?
In the universe, hydrogen: it makes up about three-quarters of all ordinary matter, and helium most of the rest. On Earth the answer depends on where you look. Oxygen is the most common element in the rocks of the crust, iron makes up most of the core, and nitrogen fills about 78% of the air.