Element Symbols Quiz
Match each chemical element with its symbol — and the other way round. 10 questions per round.
How the quiz works
Each round mixes two directions: an element's name, where you pick its symbol, and a symbol, where you pick the element. The wrong options are chosen to be tempting — for sodium you will usually see other symbols that start with N, like Ne and Ni, because confusing similar symbols is the mistake people actually make.
Essentials covers the 30 elements that turn up in school chemistry and everyday life, Elements 1–56 runs to barium, and Up to uranium goes to element 92. The lanthanides, 58 to 71, are left out: they are rarely asked, and their names are close to impossible to tell apart.
Why some symbols don't match the name
The system of one- and two-letter symbols was introduced by the Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius in the 1810s, and he built it on Latin, the shared language of science at the time. Most symbols still line up with the modern English name, but eleven of the elements here keep their Latin origin and have to be learned separately.
- Na natrium · K kalium — sodium and potassium
- Fe ferrum · Cu cuprum · Sn stannum — iron, copper and tin
- Ag argentum · Au aurum — silver and gold
- Hg hydrargyrum, “water-silver” — mercury
- Pb plumbum — lead, and the root of the word plumber
- Sb stibium · W wolfram — antimony and tungsten
How to learn them quickly
Case matters, and it is worth knowing why. A capital letter marks the start of a new element, so Co is cobalt while CO is carbon monoxide, one carbon atom and one oxygen atom. The second letter of a symbol is always lowercase for exactly that reason.
- Learn the first twenty in order. They are the core of every school syllabus and the order itself becomes a memory aid.
- Treat the eleven Latin symbols as a separate list rather than exceptions scattered through the table.
- Watch the pairs that share a first letter: C, Ca, Cl, Co, Cr, Cu and Cs are where most mistakes happen.
- Play short rounds on several days rather than one long session. Spaced repetition is what moves them into memory.
Frequently asked questions
Which elements are in the quiz?
78 elements. Essentials covers the 30 that turn up in school chemistry and everyday life, Elements 1–56 adds the rest up to barium, and Up to uranium runs to element 92. The lanthanides, elements 58 to 71, are left out — they are rarely asked and almost impossible to tell apart by name.
Why don't some symbols match the name?
Symbols come from the element's Latin name, not the English one. Fe is ferrum, Au is aurum, Pb is plumbum, Na is natrium and K is kalium. Eleven of the elements here work that way, and the quiz shows the origin whenever one comes up.
Why is the second letter always lowercase?
Because capital letters mark where a new element starts. Co is cobalt, but CO is carbon monoxide — one carbon atom and one oxygen atom. Getting the case wrong changes the meaning entirely.
Which spellings do you use?
US spellings: aluminum, cesium and sulfur. The symbols themselves are international and identical in every language.
How many elements are there?
118 are confirmed. The last four — nihonium, moscovium, tennessine and oganesson — received their official names in 2016, completing the seventh row of the periodic table.
What's the fastest way to learn them?
Learn the first twenty in order, then the eleven Latin exceptions as their own list — together they cover almost everything a school exam asks. Short daily rounds beat one long session.