Na, K, Fe, Au: can you remember which element each symbol stands for? This quiz asks both ways round, and the wrong answers start with the same letter so you have to really know them. Easy covers the first 20 elements. This element symbols quiz also has the quiz in a printable form, and tables that sort the 118 elements by level, period and family.
Element symbols quiz to print (PDF)
These four pages show the printable element symbols quiz: a multiple-choice sheet, a write-in sheet, the answer key and a black-and-white sheet that saves ink. Click any picture for the PDF, or use the quiz maker below to choose the number of questions and the paper size.
How to play the element symbols quiz
- Pick the options above the quiz (questions, timer, level) and answer each question by tapping an answer, or press 1 to 4 on a keyboard.
- A correct answer moves on by itself; a wrong one shows the right answer so you learn it.
- At the end you get your score, stars and your best score so far, plus a list of the answers to learn.
- Press Challenge a friend to send a link with exactly the same questions, or Practice the ones I missed to go again.
Symbols that don’t match the English name
- Na: sodium (from Latin natrium)
- K: potassium (kalium)
- Fe: iron (ferrum)
- Cu: copper (cuprum)
- Ag: silver (argentum)
- Au: gold (aurum)
- Pb: lead (plumbum)
- Hg: mercury (hydrargyrum)
- Sn: tin (stannum)
See every element on our printable periodic table.
Element symbols quiz: 118 elements by level
The element symbols quiz asks about all 118 elements, in both directions: you see the element and choose the symbol, or you see the symbol and choose the element. That makes 236 questions in all. The levels follow the order of the periodic table:
| Level | Elements | Atomic numbers | First five |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 20 | 1 to 20 | Hydrogen (H), Helium (He), Lithium (Li), Beryllium (Be), Boron (B), … |
| Medium | 36 | 21 to 56 | Scandium (Sc), Titanium (Ti), Vanadium (V), Chromium (Cr), Manganese (Mn), … |
| Hard | 62 | 57 to 118 | Lanthanum (La), Cerium (Ce), Praseodymium (Pr), Neodymium (Nd), Promethium (Pm), … |
Easy has the first 10 elements, which are the ones that a first chemistry lesson covers. Medium goes up to element 56, and hard has the 31 elements after that, from the heavy metals to the newest man-made elements.
Chemical symbols quiz: how a symbol is made
In a chemical symbols quiz, a symbol is either one capital letter or a capital followed by a small letter. Only 14 elements have a one-letter symbol: H (Hydrogen), B (Boron), C (Carbon), N (Nitrogen), O (Oxygen), F (Fluorine), P (Phosphorus), S (Sulfur), K (Potassium), V (Vanadium), Y (Yttrium), I (Iodine), W (Tungsten), U (Uranium). The other 104 have two letters. For 107 of the 118 elements, the symbol is made from the letters of the English name, such as He for helium and Mg for magnesium. The 11 that are not are the ones that players miss most often, and they come from the Latin and German names:
| Symbol | Element | Origin of the symbol |
|---|---|---|
| Na | Sodium | from the Latin natrium |
| K | Potassium | from the Latin kalium |
| Fe | Iron | from the Latin ferrum |
| Cu | Copper | from the Latin cuprum |
| Ag | Silver | from the Latin argentum |
| Sn | Tin | from the Latin stannum |
| Sb | Antimony | from the Latin stibium |
| W | Tungsten | from the German name wolfram |
| Au | Gold | from the Latin aurum |
| Hg | Mercury | from the Latin hydrargyrum |
| Pb | Lead | from the Latin plumbum |
These are also the symbols that the quiz uses as the wrong answers for each other, so a player who knows all 11 of them will score much higher on the medium and hard levels. Sulfur is spelled with an f in the US, and the quiz uses US spellings throughout.
Periodic table quiz: the seven periods
In a periodic table quiz, each row of the table is called a period, and the number of elements in each period tells you why the table has its shape. The first period has just 2 elements, hydrogen and helium, and the sixth and seventh have 32 each:
| Period | Atomic numbers | Elements | First and last |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 to 2 | 2 | Hydrogen (H) to Helium (He) |
| 2 | 3 to 10 | 8 | Lithium (Li) to Neon (Ne) |
| 3 | 11 to 18 | 8 | Sodium (Na) to Argon (Ar) |
| 4 | 19 to 36 | 18 | Potassium (K) to Krypton (Kr) |
| 5 | 37 to 54 | 18 | Rubidium (Rb) to Xenon (Xe) |
| 6 | 55 to 86 | 32 | Cesium (Cs) to Radon (Rn) |
| 7 | 87 to 118 | 32 | Francium (Fr) to Oganesson (Og) |
Because the table is arranged by atomic number, the symbols in the quiz are easier to remember in order. You can see every element on the printable periodic table, and Wikipedia’s list of chemical elements gives the atomic number, the symbol and the year of discovery for each.
Element quiz: four families to learn together
A good way to prepare for the element quiz is to learn the families as a group, since they sit in the same column of the periodic table and have similar properties:
| Family | Elements and symbols | What they have in common |
|---|---|---|
| Alkali metals | Lithium (Li), Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), Rubidium (Rb), Cesium (Cs), Francium (Fr) | soft metals that react strongly with water |
| Alkaline earth metals | Beryllium (Be), Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Ca), Strontium (Sr), Barium (Ba), Radium (Ra) | shiny metals in group 2 |
| Halogens | Fluorine (F), Chlorine (Cl), Bromine (Br), Iodine (I), Astatine (At), Tennessine (Ts) | colored elements in group 17 |
| Noble gases | Helium (He), Neon (Ne), Argon (Ar), Krypton (Kr), Xenon (Xe), Radon (Rn), Oganesson (Og) | gases that hardly react |
Periodic table symbols quiz: elements named after places, scientists and planets
Many of the names in the periodic table symbols quiz have a story, and the story is a way to remember the answer. This table shows some of the groups:
| Named after | Elements |
|---|---|
| Places | Germanium (Ge), Francium (Fr), Polonium (Po), Americium (Am), Californium (Cf), Berkelium (Bk), Europium (Eu), Scandium (Sc), Gallium (Ga), Ruthenium (Ru) |
| Places in Sweden | Yttrium (Y), Ytterbium (Yb), Terbium (Tb), Erbium (Er), Holmium (Ho) |
| Scientists | Curium (Cm), Einsteinium (Es), Fermium (Fm), Mendelevium (Md), Nobelium (No), Lawrencium (Lr), Rutherfordium (Rf), Seaborgium (Sg), Bohrium (Bh), Meitnerium (Mt), Roentgenium (Rg), Copernicium (Cn), Flerovium (Fl), Oganesson (Og) |
| Planets and myths | Mercury (Hg), Uranium (U), Neptunium (Np), Plutonium (Pu), Titanium (Ti), Thorium (Th), Promethium (Pm) |
Four elements (ytterbium, yttrium, terbium and erbium) are named after a single village in Sweden called Ytterby, and the symbol of gold is Au because the Latin word for gold is aurum.
A five-day plan to learn the symbols
| Day | What to learn | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Easy level: the first 20 elements | 10 |
| Day 2 | The 11 symbols that do not match the name (Na, K, Fe, Cu, Ag, Au, Pb, Hg, Sn, Sb, W) | 22 |
| Day 3 | Medium level: elements 21 to 56 | 18 |
| Day 4 | Hard level: the rest of the table, in the 7 periods | 31 |
| Day 5 | All 118 elements, both ways round, with the timer on | 118 |
Playing all 236 questions takes about 47 minutes at 12 seconds each, but the plan above splits the work into short sessions that are easier to remember.
Print this element symbols quiz
Make a printable version for a classroom, a quiz night or homework: choose multiple choice or write-in answers, 10 to 30 questions, and add an answer key. Download a free PDF or print straight away.
Frequently asked questions
4 quick answers
Which elements are in the easy level?
The first 20, from hydrogen (H) to calcium (Ca).
Why is gold Au?
The symbol comes from the Latin word aurum.
How many chemical elements are there?
There are 118 known elements, from hydrogen (atomic number 1) to oganesson (atomic number 118). The quiz has all of them.
Which elements have a one-letter symbol?
Fourteen elements do: H (Hydrogen), B (Boron), C (Carbon), N (Nitrogen), O (Oxygen), F (Fluorine), P (Phosphorus), S (Sulfur), K (Potassium), V (Vanadium), Y (Yttrium), I (Iodine), W (Tungsten), U (Uranium).