• 10 families
  • Checked September 2026

Periodic Table Groups Quiz

Tap each family on the periodic table, from the alkali metals to the noble gases.

Periodic Table Groups Quiz

Name Date

Tap the actinides

1 of 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Top: group numbers · Left: period numbers

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Write the name of each numbered family.Answer key

  1. Alkali metals
  2. Alkaline earth metals
  3. Transition metals
  4. Lanthanides
  5. Actinides
  6. Post-transition metals
  7. Metalloids
  8. Other nonmetals
  9. Halogens
  10. Noble gases

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30. Licence: own work.

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

Next step Next: place single elements on the tableThen the trends across the table

All 10 families on the diagram

Show the list
  1. Alkali metals The elements of group 1 except hydrogen. Lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium and francium.
  2. Alkaline earth metals The six elements of group 2. Beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium and radium.
  3. Transition metals The elements in groups 3 to 12 of the main table. By the IUPAC definition the group 12 elements are not transition metals, though they are often counted with them, as here.
  4. Lanthanides Elements 57 to 71, lanthanum to lutetium. IUPAC calls them the lanthanoids. With the actinides they are the inner transition metals.
  5. Actinides Elements 89 to 103, actinium to lawrencium. IUPAC calls them the actinoids.
  6. Post-transition metals Aluminum, gallium, indium, tin, thallium, lead and bismuth. Elements 113 to 116 are placed here by their columns. Also called poor metals or other metals.
  7. Metalloids The six most often named: boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony and tellurium. This table follows PubChem and adds polonium. There is no agreed list.
  8. Other nonmetals The nonmetals that are neither halogens nor noble gases. Hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur and selenium. Hydrogen stands in group 1 but is not an alkali metal.
  9. Halogens Fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, astatine and tennessine: the elements of group 17.
  10. Noble gases The elements of group 18, also known as inert gases. Helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, radon and oganesson.

How this list was compiled: Which element belongs to which family follows the PubChem periodic table, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/periodic-table/ (its GroupBlock field, read 2026-09-30 as https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/rest/pug/periodictable/CSV). The family names, the group numbers they match, hydrogen as a nonmetal apart from the alkali metals, the inner transition metals and the note on group 12 were checked the same day in OpenStax Chemistry 2e, section 2.5, https://openstax.org/books/chemistry-2e/pages/2-5-the-periodic-table. Post-transition metals and their other names, the metalloids most often named, and the seven nonmetals outside the halogens and noble gases were checked the same day on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-transition_metal, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metalloid, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonmetal. Group numbers 1 to 18 and the names pnictogens and chalcogens: OpenStax 2.5 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_(periodic_table). The layout, and the names lanthanoids and actinoids, follow the IUPAC Periodic Table of the Elements dated 4 May 2022, https://iupac.org/what-we-do/periodic-table-of-elements/ (read in the Internet Archive copy of 16 September 2026). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30. Only the arrangement follows the IUPAC Periodic Table of the Elements (4 May 2022) and the sorting follows PubChem; the drawing is new. Licence: own work

How it works

This periodic table groups quiz names a family, such as the halogens, and you tap any of its boxes on the table. Ten families cover all 118 elements, sorted the way the PubChem periodic table sorts them.

Read the full guide

Groups, periods and families

The numbers along the top are the 18 groups and the numbers down the side the seven periods. Some families are whole groups: group 1 without hydrogen is the alkali metals, group 2 the alkaline earth metals, group 17 the halogens and group 18 the noble gases. Groups 3 to 12 hold the transition metals.

Labeled periodic table: metals, nonmetals and metalloids

Six families are metals: the alkali, alkaline earth, transition and post-transition metals, the lanthanides and the actinides. The halogens, the noble gases and the other nonmetals are nonmetals. The metalloids run between them. Show me the labels first writes every name on the table.

  • Start at the edges: groups 1, 2, 17 and 18 are whole columns.
  • The two rows set below the table are one family each.

Questions and answers

What are the groups of the periodic table called?

The columns are groups 1 to 18. Some have names: group 1 without hydrogen is the alkali metals, group 2 the alkaline earth metals, group 15 the pnictogens, group 16 the chalcogens, group 17 the halogens and group 18 the noble gases.

Is hydrogen an alkali metal?

No. Hydrogen stands at the top of group 1, but it is a nonmetal. OpenStax Chemistry calls it a unique element with properties similar to both group 1 and group 17 elements.

Which elements are metalloids?

Boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony and tellurium are the six most often named. There is no agreed list: polonium and astatine are sometimes added. This quiz counts polonium, as PubChem does, and keeps astatine with the halogens.

What is the difference between a group and a period?

A group is a column and a period is a row. The table has 18 groups and seven periods. Elements in one group often behave in a similar way.

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