118 elements and their symbols: the full list with names, atomic numbers and atomic masses, the 11 symbols that do not match the name, and which ones your class actually needs (free PDF)

Every chemistry course asks for the elements and their symbols at some point, and the same three things go wrong every year: the child cannot find a trustworthy full list, the symbols that do not match the name (Na, K, Fe, Pb, Sn, Ag, Au, Hg, W) get guessed, and the parent does not know how many of the 118 actually have to be learned. This page is the full table of all 118 elements with symbol, atomic number, atomic mass and type, as a printable A4 PDF, followed by the eleven Latin symbols, the valency of the ones a school course uses, and what each class is really expected to know.

Download the 118 elements table as a PDF (all 118 with symbol, atomic number, atomic mass and type; A4, three pages, free).

All 118 elements and their symbols

Atomic masses are the IUPAC conventional values rounded to two or three decimals; a value in square brackets is the mass number of the most stable isotope, used for elements that have no stable isotope.

Periodic table tricks: how to remember the elements, not just list them

The list above is for looking up; the tricks below are for keeping. They work because the periodic table is a pattern, and a pattern is easier to hold than 118 facts.

1. Learn it in blocks that match the periods. Elements 1 to 10 (H to Ne), 11 to 18 (Na to Ar) and 19 to 36 (K to Kr) are three sentences, not one list of 36; the mnemonics in English and Hinglish, and the four-day plan, are in the first 30 elements.
2. Position gives the atomic number. The seventh word of the first sentence is nitrogen, so nitrogen is 7; the third word of the second sentence is aluminium, 10 + 3 = 13. Never learn atomic numbers as a separate list.
3. Mass is about twice the atomic number for the first 20. Carbon 6 and 12, oxygen 8 and 16, calcium 20 and 40; learn the six exceptions (H 1, Be 9, N 14, Cl 35.5, Ar 40, K 39) and the rest follow.
4. The group number gives the valency. Groups 1, 2 and 13 give 1, 2, 3; group 14 shares 4; groups 15, 16, 17 take 3, 2, 1; group 18 is 0. So Li to Ne read 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 and Na to Ar read the same.
5. The 11 odd symbols have Latin names. Na (natrium), K (kalium), Fe (ferrum), Cu (cuprum), Ag (argentum), Sn (stannum), Sb (stibium), Au (aurum), Hg (hydrargyrum), Pb (plumbum), W (wolfram): learn the Latin word once and the symbol stops being arbitrary.
6. The families have a colour. Alkali metals in group 1, halogens in group 17, noble gases in group 18, transition metals in the middle block: colour the printable chart by family and the properties come with the colour.
7. A blank grid once a week. The test that works is filling symbols into an empty grid from memory; after four weeks the first 36 are permanent.

The 11 symbols that do not match the English name

Every other symbol in the table is the first letter, or the first two letters, of the English name. These eleven come from Latin, because the symbols were fixed by Berzelius in 1813 when Latin was the language of chemistry, and they are the ones that cost marks.

Learn these as a set of eleven, in this order, with the Latin word said aloud once: the child who knows natrium never writes So for sodium again.

Symbols: the three rules

1. One letter, always a capital: H, B, C, N, O, F, P, S, K, V, Y, I, W, U.
2. Two letters, the second always small: Co is cobalt, CO is carbon monoxide (a compound of two elements). This is the single most common symbol mistake in Class 9 and Year 9 papers.
3. Two-letter symbols are usually the first two letters (He, Li, Be, Ne, Al, Si, Ar, Ca) or the first letter and a later consonant when the first two are taken (Mg, Cl, Mn, Zn, Cd, Pt). After the first twenty, when a symbol looks odd, check the Latin list above before guessing.

Valency of the elements a school course uses

Valency is the combining capacity of an atom: the number of hydrogen atoms it can bond with or displace. For the main-group elements it follows the group; the transition metals have more than one, and the ones in bold are the values examiners expect.

The mnemonics for the first 30, with atomic numbers and masses, are in trick to remember the first 30 elements; this page is the reference, that one is the learning method.

How many of the 118 your child needs, by class

The mistake is to start at 1 and work towards 118. Start at 1 to 20, make them automatic (symbol, number, group, valency), then add the specific metals and halogens the course uses. A child who knows 35 elements cold does better in every exam than one who half-knows 80.

How we teach the periodic table

A 1-on-1 online class, one tutor, one child, 30 minutes on the table split into blocks of ten with a mnemonic for each, then five minutes a lesson of retrieval until the symbols are automatic. The class then moves on to what the table is for (bonding, formulas, reactivity) instead of spending a month reciting it. The first 30-minute class is free: send the chapter your child is on and the last test, on WhatsApp or the contact page. The subject page for chemistry, with boards and levels, is at online chemistry tutoring.

Questions parents ask

See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →