⚗️ Periodic Table Trainer

Learn the elements in chunks: first 5, first 10, first 20, then all 118.

Range:

The table

Alkali metalAlkaline earthTransition metal Post-transition metalMetalloidNon-metal HalogenNoble gasLanthanideActinide

Click an element

Tap any tile to see its number, symbol, name, group and period.

Learn

Read them through a few times, then hide the names or symbols and tap a card to reveal it. Say each one out loud, it sticks better.

Quiz

Mode:
Question order:
Score 0 / 0 Streak 0 Best streak 0

Mnemonics for the first 20

The first letters of each word match the element symbols. Learn the sentence, then map it back.

First 5 (H He Li Be B)

Happy Henry Likes Baking Buns.

First 10 (… C N O F Ne)

Happy Henry Likes Baking Buns, Cooks Nice Orange Fruit Nightly.

First 20 (… Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar K Ca)

Naughty Magpies Always Sing Perfect Songs Clearly Around King's Castle.

Chant it in chunks of five

H · He · Li · Be · B
C · N · O · F · Ne
Na · Mg · Al · Si · P
S · Cl · Ar · K · Ca

Patterns that do the remembering for you

Rows and columns mean something

A period is a row: every element in it has the same number of electron shells. A group is a column: elements in a group have the same number of outer electrons, so they behave alike.

The groups worth knowing by name

  • Group 1, alkali metals (Li, Na, K…): soft, react violently with water, get more reactive going down.
  • Group 2, alkaline earth metals (Be, Mg, Ca…): reactive, but less so than group 1.
  • Group 7 / 17, halogens (F, Cl, Br, I…): reactive non-metals, get less reactive going down.
  • Group 0 / 18, noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr…): full outer shell, basically unreactive.
  • The middle block, transition metals (Fe, Cu, Zn, Ag, Au…): hard, shiny, coloured compounds, good catalysts.

Symbols that don't match the English name

They come from Latin: Na = natrium (sodium), K = kalium (potassium), Fe = ferrum (iron), Cu = cuprum (copper), Ag = argentum (silver), Sn = stannum (tin), Au = aurum (gold), Hg = hydrargyrum (mercury), Pb = plumbum (lead), W = wolfram (tungsten), Sb = stibium (antimony).

How to actually learn them

  1. Pick a range (First 5). Read the Learn cards aloud three times.
  2. Hide the names, reveal one at a time. Then hide the symbols.
  3. Quiz until you get 10 in a row. Then move to the next range.
  4. Finish each session with "Type them in order", the real test.
  5. Come back tomorrow and do it again. Spaced repetition beats one long cram.