First 20 Elements Quiz

Tap or click the box for each element it names.

First 20 Elements Quiz

First 20 (hydrogen to calcium) · 20 of 40 elements

Name Date

Chlorine: find its box

1 of 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

In each box: the atomic number · Rows: periods 1 to 5

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Write the name of each numbered element.Answer key

  1. Hydrogen
  2. Helium
  3. Lithium
  4. Beryllium
  5. Boron
  6. Carbon
  7. Nitrogen
  8. Oxygen
  9. Fluorine
  10. Neon
  11. Sodium
  12. Magnesium
  13. Aluminum
  14. Silicon
  15. Phosphorus
  16. Sulfur
  17. Chlorine
  18. Argon
  19. Potassium
  20. Calcium
  21. Scandium
  22. Titanium
  23. Vanadium
  24. Chromium
  25. Manganese
  26. Iron
  27. Cobalt
  28. Nickel
  29. Copper
  30. Zinc
  31. Gallium
  32. Germanium
  33. Arsenic
  34. Selenium
  35. Bromine
  36. Krypton
  37. Rubidium
  38. Strontium
  39. Yttrium
  40. Zirconium

Drawn by code for this site from the layout of the IUPAC Periodic Table of the Elements dated 4 May 2022. Licence: own work.

Each element is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a element is answered.

Next step Next: all 118 elements on the full table

All 40 elements on the diagram

Show the list

First 18 (hydrogen to argon) 18

  1. Hydrogen Symbol H, atomic number 1. The name is built from Greek roots that mean water-forming.
  2. Helium Symbol He, atomic number 2. It boils at about 4 kelvin, the lowest boiling point of any element, and it does not freeze at normal pressure.
  3. Lithium Symbol Li, atomic number 3. At about 0.53 grams per cubic centimeter it is the least dense of all the metals.
  4. Beryllium Symbol Be, atomic number 4. The name comes from the mineral beryl.
  5. Boron Symbol B, atomic number 5. It is the only metalloid in row 2, and its name goes back through borax to an Arabic word.
  6. Carbon Symbol C, atomic number 6. The name comes from the Latin carbo, coal. Graphite is soft and diamond is the hardest natural substance, yet both are this one element.
  7. Nitrogen Symbol N, atomic number 7. Dry air is about 78 percent this gas. It boils at about 77 kelvin, far below room temperature.
  8. Oxygen Symbol O, atomic number 8. Dry air is about 21 percent this gas, and it is the most abundant element in Earth's crust. The Greek roots of the name mean acid-forming.
  9. Fluorine Symbol F, atomic number 9. The name comes from the Latin fluo, to flow. On the usual scale it has the highest electronegativity of any element, 3.98.
  10. Neon Symbol Ne, atomic number 10. It ends row 2 and boils at about 27 kelvin, the third lowest boiling point in the table.
  11. Sodium Symbol Na, atomic number 11. The symbol comes from natrium, the Neo-Latin name. The English name was coined by Humphry Davy from the word soda.
  12. Magnesium Symbol Mg, atomic number 12. The name comes from Magnesia, a region of Thessaly in Greece. Do not mix it up with Mn, which sits in row 4.
  13. Aluminum Symbol Al, atomic number 13. IUPAC spells it aluminium and American English spells it aluminum, and the quiz takes either. The name comes from the Latin alumen, alum.
  14. Silicon Symbol Si, atomic number 14. The name comes from the Latin silex, flint. Only one element is more abundant in Earth's crust.
  15. Phosphorus Symbol P, atomic number 15. Note the spelling: the name ends in -us, not -ous. It comes from the Greek phosphoros, light-bearing.
  16. Sulfur Symbol S, atomic number 16. IUPAC spells the name with an f. The older British spelling with ph is accepted as a typed answer.
  17. Chlorine Symbol Cl, atomic number 17. The name comes from the Greek chloros, greenish yellow. It boils at about 239 kelvin, so it is a gas at room temperature.
  18. Argon Symbol Ar, atomic number 18. Dry air is about 0.93 percent this gas. The name comes from the Greek argos, idle, because it does not react. It ends row 3.

First 20 (hydrogen to calcium) 2

  1. Potassium Symbol K, atomic number 19. The symbol comes from kalium, the Neo-Latin name. The English name comes from potash, which is pot plus ash.
  2. Calcium Symbol Ca, atomic number 20. The name comes from the Latin calx, lime. It is the last of the first 20 and the fifth most abundant element in Earth's crust.

First 30 (hydrogen to zinc) 10

  1. Scandium Symbol Sc, atomic number 21. The name comes from Scandia, the Latin name for Scandinavia. It opens the d-block, the ten middle columns of the table.
  2. Titanium Symbol Ti, atomic number 22. It is named after the Titans, the children of Gaia and Ouranos in Greek myth.
  3. Vanadium Symbol V, atomic number 23. The name comes from Vanadis, another name for the Norse goddess Freyja.
  4. Chromium Symbol Cr, atomic number 24. The name comes from the Greek chroma, color.
  5. Manganese Symbol Mn, atomic number 25. The name is a corruption of the Latin magnesia negra, so it shares a root with the name behind Mg. That is why the two get confused.
  6. Iron Symbol Fe, atomic number 26. The symbol comes from the Latin ferrum. Only three elements are more abundant in Earth's crust.
  7. Cobalt Symbol Co, atomic number 27. The name comes from the German Kobold, goblin. Write the symbol with a small o, because CO is a compound, not an element.
  8. Nickel Symbol Ni, atomic number 28. It is named after Nickel, a mischievous sprite in the stories of German miners.
  9. Copper Symbol Cu, atomic number 29. The symbol comes from the Latin cuprum, a name taken from Cyprus.
  10. Zinc Symbol Zn, atomic number 30. It is the last of the first 30 and closes the d-block part of row 4. The name most likely comes from the German Zinke, prong or tooth.

First 36 (hydrogen to krypton) 6

  1. Gallium Symbol Ga, atomic number 31. It melts at about 29.8 degrees Celsius, so it turns liquid in a warm hand. The name comes from Gallia, the Latin name for France.
  2. Germanium Symbol Ge, atomic number 32. The name comes from Germania, the Latin name for Germany.
  3. Arsenic Symbol As, atomic number 33. It sublimes at normal pressure instead of melting. The name goes back to the Greek arsenikon, which meant yellow arsenic.
  4. Selenium Symbol Se, atomic number 34. The name comes from the Greek selene, moon.
  5. Bromine Symbol Br, atomic number 35. It is the only one of the first 40 elements that is a liquid at 25 degrees Celsius. The name comes from the Greek bromos, stench.
  6. Krypton Symbol Kr, atomic number 36. The name comes from the Greek kryptos, hidden. It ends row 4 and is the last of the first 36.

First 40 (hydrogen to zirconium) 4

  1. Rubidium Symbol Rb, atomic number 37. The name comes from the Latin rubidus, deep red. It melts at about 39 degrees Celsius.
  2. Strontium Symbol Sr, atomic number 38. The name comes from Strontian, the Scottish village where it was found.
  3. Yttrium Symbol Y, atomic number 39. The name comes from Ytterby in Sweden, where it was found. Three other elements are named after the same village.
  4. Zirconium Symbol Zr, atomic number 40. The name comes from the mineral zircon, from a Persian word meaning gold-hued. It is the last element in this quiz.

How this list was compiled: Names, symbols, atomic numbers and table positions: IUPAC Periodic Table of the Elements dated 4 May 2022, https://iupac.org/what-we-do/periodic-table-of-elements/ (PDF https://iupac.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/IUPAC_Periodic_Table-04May22_CRA.pdf), read 2026-09-19. Name origins, melting and boiling points, density, electronegativity and abundance in Earth's crust: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chemical_elements, read 2026-09-19, which cites the Royal Society of Chemistry periodic table and the Online Etymology Dictionary for name origins. Share of each gas in dry air: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth, read 2026-09-19. Forms of carbon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon, read 2026-09-19. Melting point of gallium: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallium, read 2026-09-19. Hints and detail lines were written for this site. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn by code for this site from the layout of the IUPAC Periodic Table of the Elements dated 4 May 2022. Each box is a plain rectangle, so there is no borrowed art. Licence: own work

How it works

This first 20 elements quiz draws the top five rows of the periodic table as empty boxes. It opens on the first 20, hydrogen to calcium. Tap or click the box that belongs to the name on screen, or switch to Name it and give the name or symbol of the lit box. Other ranges stop at 18, 30, 36 or 40.

Read the full guide

Find it, Name it and Study

Find it shows a name, such as Sodium, and you tap its box. A box carries only its atomic number, so you still have to know where that number sits. Name it lights one box and asks what belongs there, with 4 choices or, under Type it, a text box that takes the name or the symbol, so Na counts for sodium. Study writes every name on the table, and tapping a box brings up its symbol, its atomic number and where the name comes from.

Choose how far up the table to go

The sets under Start from set the range. First 20 runs from hydrogen to calcium. First 18 stops at argon, the end of row 3, so the page doubles as a first 18 elements quiz. First 30 adds the ten metals from scandium to zinc and works as a first 30 elements quiz. First 36 closes row 4 at krypton for a first 36 elements quiz, and First 40 carries on to zirconium, which makes it a first 40 elements quiz.

Wrong taps and the missed list

A wrong tap names the element you hit. It also lights the right box with its name and counts a miss. After misses, the main button reads Practise the 2 you missed, a round of only those elements. Share score copies a link to the same range with your score on it.

  • Learn the shape before the names: 2 boxes in row 1, 8 in row 2, 8 in row 3 and 18 in row 4. Element 20 is the second box of row 4.
  • Two of the first 20 take their symbols from older names: Na is sodium (natrium) and K is potassium (kalium).
  • Read down the right-hand column as a set: helium, neon, argon, krypton. The noble gases close rows 1 to 4 at numbers 2, 10, 18 and 36.
  • If your class has been set a first 30 elements of the periodic table quiz, choose First 30. The round then runs through zinc.
  • Press Print blank, fill in every box from memory with a pencil, and mark it against the Print labelled sheet.

Questions and answers

Is this a first 20 elements of the periodic table quiz or the whole table?

It covers the first five rows only, up to element 40. Pick First 20 under Start from and the round asks for hydrogen to calcium and nothing else. The boxes for elements 21 to 40 stay on the drawing so the table keeps its shape. All 118 elements are on the periodic table quiz on this site.

My worksheet is called periodic table quiz 1-20. Is that the same list?

Yes. Elements 1 to 20 by atomic number are hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon, sodium, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, argon, potassium and calcium. The atomic number sits in the corner of each box here, so numbers 1 to 20 on your sheet match boxes 1 to 20 on this table.

Why does the quiz say aluminum when the official table says aluminium?

IUPAC, the body that names the elements, spells it aluminium, and American textbooks spell it aluminum. This page uses American spelling on screen and accepts both when you type. Sulfur is the IUPAC spelling, and the older spelling sulphur is accepted too. Al and S are right in either spelling.

Is a periodic table first 20 elements quiz better than reciting the list?

They train different things. Reciting gives you the order. Placing each element on the table also teaches its row and its group: lithium, sodium and potassium stack in group 1, and helium, neon and argon stack in group 18. Use Find it for positions and the text box in Name it for spelling.

Where do the names and the drawing come from?

Names, symbols, atomic numbers and positions were checked against the IUPAC Periodic Table of the Elements dated 4 May 2022, on the date at the bottom of this page. The table is drawn by code for this site.

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