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

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Hydrogen 1 Blowing up the Hindenburg, Composing the vast majority of the universe's matter H No

Alkali metals

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Lithium 3 making rechargeable batteries Li No
Sodium 11 explodes when touching water Na No
Potassium 19 Banana.gif K No
Rubidium 37 In very precise clocks Rb No
Cesium 55 atomic clocks Cs No
Francium 87 France Fr Yes

Alkali earth metals

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Beryllium 4 strong but lightweight material Be No
Magnesium 12 Lots, present in chlorophyll, alloys Mg No
Calcium 20 present in bones and cement 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 radioactive Ra Yes

Transition metals

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Scandium 21 When you need tools Sc No
Titanium 22 strong but lightweight, artificial bones, aircraft parts Ti No
Vanadium 23 In tools V No
Chromium 24 Chrome plating, stainless steel Cr No
Manganese 25 Alloying with steel and aluminum Mn No
Iron 26 ferromagnetic, (electro)magnets, steel, good conductor of heat and electricity, part of hemoglobin Fe No
Cobalt 27 ferromagnetic, coloring glass blue Co No
Nickel 28 in currency, certain kinds of stainless steel Ni No
Copper 29 coins, good conductor of heat and electricity; The first metal humans smelted Cu No
Zinc 30 In currency Zn No
Yttrium 39 Forms YBCO Y No
Zirconium 40 Fake diamonds Zr No
Niobium 41 Piercings, destroying Congo's economy (with tantalum) Nb No
Molybdenum 42 Alloys, generating technetium Mo No
Technetium 43 Nuclear medicine Tc Yes
Ruthenium 44 Being a metal no one's heard of Ru No
Rhodium 45 Plating cheap jewelry Rh No
Palladium 46 Imitating silver[notes 1], catalytic converters Pd No
Silver 47 Mirrors, great conductor of heat and electricity, coins Ag No
Cadmium 48 Yellow, carcinogenic pigment Cd No
Hafnium 72 Plasma torches Hf No
Tantalum 73 Capacitors,[notes 2] 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 Re No
Osmium 76 Alloying with iridium; most dense metal Os No
Iridium 77 Spark plug electrodes Ir No
Platinum 78 Jewelry; being really expensive catalysis Pt No
Gold 79 Jewelry, high performance electrical contacts, money!!! Au No
Mercury 80 First planet from the sun Poison, thermometers, 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

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Boron 5 Fiberglass B No
Silicon 14 Electronics Si No
Germanium 32 Camera lenses Ge No
Arsenic 33 Poison As No
Antimony 51 Alloying with lead Sb No
Tellurium 52 In DVDs Te No

Other Nonmetals

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Carbon 6 High efficiency fuel, Plastic, dietary fats, carbs, and fibers, global warming, pencils C No
Nitrogen 7 Air, having a really low boiling point, dynamite N No
Phosphorus 15 Fertilizer, matches, phospholipid bilayers, making meth[notes 3] P No

Post-transition metals

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Aluminum 13 Airplanes, foil Al No
Gallium 31 Having a low melting point Ga No
Indium 49 Thermometers In No
Tin 50 Making bronze Sn No
Thallium 81 Poison Tl No
Lead 82 Pipes, paint, gasoline additive Poison, bullets, radiation shielding Pb No
Bismuth 83 Pepto-Bismol Bi Yes(technically)[notes 4]
Polonium 84 Assassinating ex-FSB agentsWikipedia Po Yes
Nihonium 113 None Nh Yes

Chalcogens

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Oxygen 8 Cellular respiration O No
Sulfur 16 Creating face-melting acid S No
Selenium 34 Glass production Se No

Halogens

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Fluorine 9 Toothpaste F No
Chlorine 17 Disinfecting swimming pools Cl No
Bromine 35 Disinfectant Br No
Iodine 53 Antiseptic I No
Astatine 85 None At Yes
Tennessine 117 None Ts Yes

Noble gases

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Helium 2 In balloons, blimps and zeppelins, 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 Ne No
Argon 18 Shield gas for substances that oxidize easily Ar No
Krypton 36 Superman's home planet Incandescent bulbs Kr No
Xenon 54 Galactic ruler of Scientology fame Highly efficient, electrically-powered ion thrusters on satellites Xe No
Radon 86 Leading cause of lung cancer that isn't smoking or asbestos Rn Yes
Oganesson 118 None Og Yes

Rare Earth metals

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Lanthanum 57 Flints La No
Cerium 58 Lighter flints Ce No
Praseodymium 59 Coloring glass yellow Pr No
Neodymium 60 Very strong magnets Nd No
Promethium 61 Atomic batteries Pm Yes
Samarium 62 Powerful magnets used in electronics Sm No
Europium 63 Red and blue phosphors in CRT televisions Eu No
Gadolinium 64 Increasing contrast in MRI scans Gd No
Terbium 65 Fluorescent lights Tb No
Dysprosium 66 Nuclear control rods Dy No
Holmium 67 High strength magnets Ho No
Erbium 68 Photographic filters Er No
Thulium 69 Lasers Tm No
Ytterbium 70 Strengthening stainless steel Yb No
Lutetium 71 Lights in LEDs Lu No

Actinides

Element Atomic Number Use(s) Symbol Radioactive?
Actinium 89 Radio-immunotherapy Ac Yes
Thorium 90 Lantern mantles Th Yes
Protactinium 91 None Pa Yes
Uranium 92 Nuclear power U Yes
Neptunium 93 Neutron detection equipment Np Yes
Plutonium 94 Pacemakers Pu Yes
Americium 95 Smoke detectors Am Yes
Curium 96 Powering equipment used on space missions Cm Yes
Berkelium 97 None Bk Yes
Californium 98 Portable metal detectors Cf Yes
Einsteinium 99 None Es Yes
Fermium 100 None Fm Yes
Mendelevium 101 None Md Yes
Nobelium 102 None No Yes
Lawrencium 103 None Lr Yes

Notes

  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.

References