List of elements in the periodic table

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For more information, see: Periodic Table

This is a list of the elements listed in the periodic table.[1]

Hydrogen[edit]

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Hydrogen 1 Blowing up the Hindenburg, water, acidity, composing the vast majority of the universe's matter, and present in almost as many compounds as carbon H No

Alkali metals[edit]

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Lithium 3 making rechargeable batteries, treating bipolar disorder Li No
Sodium 11 explodes when touching water, table salt, baking soda, important in cell osmosis Na No
Potassium 19 Banana.gif Fertilizers, important for brains to function, K-40 is famously radioactive K No
Rubidium 37 In very precise clocks, photocells, purple-red fireworks Rb No
Cesium 55 atomic clocks, ion propulsion systems, vacuum tubes, softest metal in its pure form Cs No
Francium 87 France Fr Yes

Alkaline earth metals[edit]

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Beryllium 4 strong but lightweight material, gyroscopes, accelerometers, missiles, emeralds Be No
Magnesium 12 Most used metal after steel and aluminum, present in chlorophyll, alloys, cars, planes, electronics, batteries, asbestos Mg No
Calcium 20 bones, cement, limestone, gypsum, antacids, plays an important role in the carbon cycle Ca No
Strontium 38 red fireworks, glass in old-fashioned CRT televisions Sr No
Barium 56 drilling fluid, rat poison, medical imaging Ba No
Radium 88 Being dangerously radioactive, decays to even-deadlier radon, was a fad in the early 20th century Ra Yes

Transition metals[edit]

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Scandium 21 When you need tools, bicycles, baseball bats Sc No
Titanium 22 strong but lightweight, artificial bones, aircraft parts, non-toxic white paint Ti No
Vanadium 23 In tools; shock-, vibration-, and neutron-resistant alloys; catalyst for sulfuric acid V No
Chromium 24 Chrome plating, stainless steel, rubies, tanning leather Cr No
Manganese 25 Alloying with steel and aluminum, certain enzymes Mn No
Iron 26 ferromagnetic, Earth's magnetic field, (electro)magnets, steel, hemoglobin, blue ink, good conductor of heat and electricity, end of the line in stellar nucleosynthesis Fe No
Cobalt 27 ferromagnetic, coloring glass blue, jet turbines Co No
Nickel 28 in currency, certain kinds of stainless steel, corrosion-resistant Ni No
Copper 29 coins, good conductor of heat and electricity, industrial equipment; The first metal humans smelted Cu No
Zinc 30 In currency, brass, luminous paint, plating (galvanizing steel) Zn No
Yttrium 39 Forms YBCO, microwave filters in radars Y No
Zirconium 40 Fake diamonds, tubing in nuclear reactors, ultra-strong ceramics Zr No
Niobium 41 Piercings, NMR equipment, destroying Congo's economy (with tantalum) Nb No
Molybdenum 42 Alloys, maglevs, generating technetium Mo No
Technetium 43 Nuclear medicine Tc Yes
Ruthenium 44 olefin metathesis, chip resistors Ru No
Rhodium 45 Plating cheap jewelry, catalytic converters in cars, having a very unstable market value Rh No
Palladium 46 Imitating silver,[notes 1] catalytic converters, ceramic capacitors, cross-coupling reactions Pd No
Silver 47 Mirrors, great conductor of heat and electricity, coins, anti-bacterial fabrics, killing werewolves Ag No
Cadmium 48 Yellow, carcinogenic pigment, fission-controlling rods Cd No
Hafnium 72 Plasma torches, control rods in nuclear submarines Hf No
Tantalum 73 Capacitors,[notes 2] surgical implants, turbine blades, destroying Congo's economy (with niobium) Ta No
Tungsten 74 Incredibly high melting point, mining drills, lightbulbs/globes, armor-piecing shells W No
Rhenium 75 Alloys, thin wires, rarest stable element Re No
Osmium 76 Alloying with iridium, fountain pens; most dense metal Os No
Iridium 77 Spark plug electrodes, photocatalysis, common in meteorites; metal most resistant to corrosion Ir No
Platinum 78 Jewelry, optical fibres, hard disks, being really expensive catalysis Pt No
Gold 79 Jewelry, high performance electrical contacts, highly ductile and malleable, scamming elderly people, money!!! Au No
Mercury 80 First planet from the sun Poison, thermometers, vermillion pigment, turning milliners insane, freaks anti-vaxxers out Hg No
Rutherfordium 104 None Rf Yes
Dubnium 105 None Db Yes
Seaborgium 106 None Sg Yes
Bohrium 107 None Bh Yes
Hassium 108 None Hs Yes
Meitnerium 109 None Mt Yes
Darmstadtium 110 None Ds Yes
Roentgenium 111 None Rg Yes
Copernicium 112 None Cn Yes

Semimetals[edit]

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Boron 5 Borax, fiberglass, green color in fireworks B No
Silicon 14 Electronics, sand, glass, speculative life Si No
Germanium 32 Camera lenses, old transistors Ge No
Arsenic 33 Poison, doping semiconductors As No
Antimony 51 Alloying with lead, mascara used in ancient times, ridiculously corrosive acidWikipedia Sb No
Tellurium 52 In DVDs, solar cells Te No

Other Nonmetals[edit]

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Carbon 6 Terrestrial life, High efficiency fuel, Plastic, dietary fats, carbs, and fibers, global warming, pencils, reducing iron ore to iron, steel, present in 95% of known compounds C No
Nitrogen 7 Air, protein, ammonia, fertilizer, having a really low boiling point, dynamite N No
Phosphorus 15 Fertilizer, matches, DNA, phospholipid bilayers, baking powder, making meth[notes 3] P No

Post-transition metals[edit]

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Aluminum 13 Airplanes, foil, beverage cans, thermite, coins that aren't worth their weight in zinc Al No
Gallium 31 LEDs, having a low melting point Ga No
Indium 49 Thermometers, LCDs, quantum computers In No
Tin 50 Many alloys, including bronze, pewter and solder Sn No
Thallium 81 Poison, low temperature thermometers Tl No
Lead 82 Pipes, paint, gasoline additive Poison, bullets, specialized glass, vehicle batteries, radiation shielding Pb No
Bismuth 83 Pepto-Bismol, fire extinguishers, beautiful crystals Bi Yes(technically)[notes 4]The most common isotope is much less radioactive than... YOU!
Polonium 84 Assassinating ex-FSB agents,Wikipedia antistatic devices Po Yes
Nihonium 113 None Nh Yes
Flerovium 114 None Fv Yes
Moscovium 115 UFOs None Mc Yes
Livermorium 116 None Lv Yes

Chalcogens[edit]

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Oxygen 8 Cellular respiration, fire, antifreeze, 65% of the mass of the human body O No
Sulfur 16 Creating face-melting acid, pesticides, rotten egg smell S No
Selenium 34 Glass production, photocopiers, anti-dandruff shampoo Se No

Halogens[edit]

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Fluorine 9 Toothpaste, Teflon, violent reactivity, separating uranium isotopes F No
Chlorine 17 Table salt, disinfecting swimming pools, PVC, chloroform, chemical weapons Cl No
Bromine 35 Disinfectant, flame retardants Br No
Iodine 53 Antiseptic, dyes, nutritional suplements I No
Astatine 85 Being the rarest naturally occurring element At Yes
Tennessine 117 None Ts Yes

Noble gases[edit]

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Helium 2 In balloons, blimps and zeppelins, shielding gas, coolant for MRI and NMR, gas chromatography, jokes about pitch-shifts; liquid helium has interesting properties and is one of the coolest materials known to science He No
Neon 10 Gaudy casinos, lasers Ne No
Argon 18 Shield gas for substances that oxidize easily, fluorescent bulbs, third most common gas in Earth's atmosphere Ar No
Krypton 36 Superman's home planet Incandescent bulbs, high-speed photography, determining the standard measurement of length Kr No
Xenon 54 Galactic ruler of Scientology fame Highly efficient, electrically-powered ion thrusters on satellites, microprocessors Xe No
Radon 86 Leading cause of lung cancer that isn't smoking or asbestos Rn Yes
Oganesson[notes 5] 118 None Og Yes

Rare Earth metals[edit]

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Lanthanum 57 Flints, studio lighting, anodes of batteries used in hybrid cars La No
Cerium 58 Lighter flints, floodlights, non-toxic red pigment Ce No
Praseodymium 59 Coloring glass yellow, aircraft engines Pr No
Neodymium 60 Very strong magnets, laser pointers Nd No
Promethium 61 Atomic batteries, source of x-rays Pm Yes
Samarium 62 Powerful magnets used in electronics, infrared-absorbing glass Sm No
Europium 63 Red and blue phosphors in CRT televisions, anti-counterfeit measure in Euro banknotes Eu No
Gadolinium 64 Increasing contrast in MRI scans, heat- and oxidation-resistant alloys Gd No
Terbium 65 Fluorescent lights, solid-state devices, loudspeakers Tb No
Dysprosium 66 Nuclear control rods, halide discharge lamps Dy No
Holmium 67 High strength magnets, nuclear reactors Ho No
Erbium 68 Photographic filters, pink glass, broadband signals Er No
Thulium 69 Lasers, x-ray machines Tm No
Ytterbium 70 Strengthening stainless steel, memory devices Yb No
Lutetium 71 Lights in LEDs, refining oil Lu No

Actinides[edit]

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Actinium 89 Radio-immunotherapy Ac Yes
Thorium 90 Lantern mantles, high-quality lenses, alloys with magnesium Th Yes
Protactinium 91 None Pa Yes
Uranium 92 Nuclear power, radiometric dating, yellow ceramic glaze U Yes
Neptunium 93 Neutron detection equipment Np Yes
Plutonium 94 Old pacemakers, some nuclear bombs Pu Yes
Americium 95 Smoke detectors, source of gamma rays Am Yes
Curium 96 Powering equipment used on space missions Cm Yes
Berkelium 97 None Bk Yes
Californium 98 Portable metal detectors, finding underground water and petroleum, strong neutron emitter Cf Yes
Einsteinium 99 Found in debris created by hydrogen bombs Es Yes
Fermium 100 Experimental radiotherapy, heaviest element that can be created in a nuclear reactor Fm Yes
Mendelevium 101 None Md Yes
Nobelium 102 None No Yes
Lawrencium 103 None Lr Yes

The musical elements[edit]

Thanks to Tom Lehrer:

Notes[edit]

  1. Which is pretty ironic, considering that palladium is actually more expensive than silver.
  2. Maybe one is in the device you're using to read this...
  3. This is the reason it's illegal to buy elemental phosphorus in the United States
  4. All isotopes of bismuth are radioactive, some however have really, really long half-lives.
  5. Which is unlikely to be noble or a gas at room temperature

References[edit]

  1. Periodic Table, Royal Society of Chemistry