118 elements

Random Element Generator

Q: Does it cover the whole periodic table?

Yes. The random element generator holds 118 elements, every one named so far: 12 alkali and alkaline earth metals, 38 transition metals, 18 post-transition metals and metalloids, 20 nonmetals, halogens and noble gases, 15 lanthanides and 15 actinides. Two more chips cut across those six, the first 20 and the 24 synthetic, and the Period row keeps a draw to one row of the table.

The whole periodic table in one shuffle: symbol, atomic number, state and one real use on every card.

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All 118

HafniumHf, atomic number 72, a solid. Reactor control rods. Named for Hafnia, the Latin name of Copenhagen.
TechnetiumTc, atomic number 43, a solid. The first element made artificially, in 1937. Used as a medical tracer.
ZincZn, atomic number 30, a solid. Galvanizes steel against rust. Mixed with copper it makes brass.
XenonXe, atomic number 54, a gas. Camera flashes and strobe lights, and the fuel for ion engines in space.
BohriumBh, atomic number 107, a solid. First made for certain in 1981 at Darmstadt. Named after the physicist Niels Bohr.

Next step Metals like this color many gems: draw one Many elements are named for a color: draw one

All 118 elements

Alkali and alkaline earth metals 12

Barium Ba, atomic number 56, a solid. Its sulfate makes a permanent white for paint. Its name is Greek for heavy.
Beryllium Be, atomic number 4, a solid. Windows for X-ray tubes. Beryllium copper makes springs and non-sparking tools.
Calcium Ca, atomic number 20, a solid. In limestone, chalk, bones and teeth. Its name comes from the Latin for lime.
Cesium (caesium) Cs, atomic number 55, a solid. Keeps time in atomic clocks. Named for the sky blue lines in its spectrum.
Francium Fr, atomic number 87, a solid. No use outside research. Named for France, the home of its discoverer.
Lithium Li, atomic number 3, a solid. The lightest metal. Goes into batteries, glass and ceramics.
Magnesium Mg, atomic number 12, a solid. Burns brilliant white in flares and fireworks. Makes alloys lighter.
Potassium K, atomic number 19, a solid. Most goes into fertilizer as potash. K stands for kalium, its Latin name.
Radium Ra, atomic number 88, a solid. Once made watch dials glow. Pierre and Marie Curie found it in 1898.
Rubidium Rb, atomic number 37, a solid. Photocells and special glass. Named for the deep red lines in its spectrum.
Sodium Na, atomic number 11, a solid. Half of table salt. Sodium lamps give streetlights a yellow glow.
Strontium Sr, atomic number 38, a solid. Turns fireworks and flares red. Named for Strontian, a village in Scotland.

Show all 118 elements (106 more)

Transition metals 38

Bohrium Bh, atomic number 107, a solid. First made for certain in 1981 at Darmstadt. Named after the physicist Niels Bohr.
Cadmium Cd, atomic number 48, a solid. Rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries and reactor control rods. Poisonous.
Chromium Cr, atomic number 24, a solid. Makes steel stainless, gives chrome plating, colors glass emerald green.
Cobalt Co, atomic number 27, a solid. Alnico magnets and deep blue glass. Named for the German Kobold, a goblin.
Copernicium Cn, atomic number 112, expected to be a solid. First made in 1996. Named for astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.
Copper Cu, atomic number 29, a solid. Electrical wire and water pipes. Named for Cyprus, where Rome got its copper.
Darmstadtium Ds, atomic number 110, expected to be a solid. First made in 1994 at Darmstadt, Germany, and named for it.
Dubnium Db, atomic number 105, a solid. Named for Dubna, Russia, where the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research is.
Gold Au, atomic number 79, a solid. The most malleable metal. Jewelry, coins, gold leaf and satellite coatings.
Hafnium Hf, atomic number 72, a solid. Reactor control rods. Named for Hafnia, the Latin name of Copenhagen.
Hassium Hs, atomic number 108, a solid. First made in 1984 at Darmstadt. Named for Hesse, the German state around it.
Iridium Ir, atomic number 77, a solid. No known metal resists corrosion better. Named for Iris, goddess of rainbows.
Iron Fe, atomic number 26, a solid. With a little carbon it becomes steel. In hemoglobin it carries oxygen.
Manganese Mn, atomic number 25, a solid. Nearly 90% goes into steel. It also colors glass amethyst purple.
Meitnerium Mt, atomic number 109, a solid. First made in 1982. Named after the physicist Lise Meitner.
Mercury Hg, atomic number 80, a liquid. Thermometers and barometers. Hg stands for hydrargyrum, liquid silver.
Molybdenum Mo, atomic number 42, a solid. Toughens steel for high heat. Its name comes from the Greek for lead.
Nickel Ni, atomic number 28, a solid. Stainless steel, coins and batteries. Miners called its ore false copper.
Niobium Nb, atomic number 41, a solid. Superconducting magnet wire. Named for Niobe, daughter of Tantalus.
Osmium Os, atomic number 76, a solid. Hard alloys for fountain pen tips and instrument pivots. Its name means smell.
Palladium Pd, atomic number 46, a solid. Soaks up 900 times its own volume of hydrogen. Named for the asteroid Pallas.
Platinum Pt, atomic number 78, a solid. Jewelry, lab ware and the catalytic converters in car exhausts.
Rhenium Re, atomic number 75, a solid. Most goes into jet engine alloys. Named for the Rhine river.
Rhodium Rh, atomic number 45, a solid. Catalytic converters in cars. Its salts are rose-colored, hence the name.
Roentgenium Rg, atomic number 111, expected to be a solid. Named after Wilhelm Röntgen, who discovered X-rays.
Ruthenium Ru, atomic number 44, a solid. Hardens platinum and palladium. Named for Ruthenia, an old name for Russia.
Rutherfordium Rf, atomic number 104, a solid. No use outside research. Named for the physicist Ernest Rutherford.
Scandium Sc, atomic number 21, a solid. Alloyed with aluminum for baseball bats and bicycle frames.
Seaborgium Sg, atomic number 106, a solid. First made in 1974. Named in honor of the chemist Glenn Seaborg.
Silver Ag, atomic number 47, a solid. The best conductor of heat and electricity of any metal. Sterling silver is 92.5% silver.
Tantalum Ta, atomic number 73, a solid. Capacitors for phones and computers. Almost immune to chemical attack.
Technetium Tc, atomic number 43, a solid. The first element made artificially, in 1937. Used as a medical tracer.
Titanium Ti, atomic number 22, a solid. As strong as steel but 45% lighter. Aircraft, and boat parts in sea water.
Tungsten W, atomic number 74, a solid. The highest melting point of any metal. Light bulb filaments. W is for wolfram.
Vanadium V, atomic number 23, a solid. About 80% goes into steel. Named for Vanadis, a Scandinavian goddess.
Yttrium Y, atomic number 39, a solid. Made the red of color TV screens. One of four elements named after Ytterby.
Zinc Zn, atomic number 30, a solid. Galvanizes steel against rust. Mixed with copper it makes brass.
Zirconium Zr, atomic number 40, a solid. Nearly 90% is used by nuclear power, because it barely absorbs neutrons.

Post-transition metals and metalloids 18

Aluminum (aluminium) Al, atomic number 13, a solid. Cans, foil, kitchen utensils and power lines.
Antimony Sb, atomic number 51, a solid. Hardens the lead in batteries. Sb stands for stibium, its Latin name.
Arsenic As, atomic number 33, a solid. Poisonous. Hardens lead shot, and gallium arsenide makes laser light.
Bismuth Bi, atomic number 83, a solid. Low-melting alloys for fire sprinklers and fuses. It expands as it freezes.
Boron B, atomic number 5, a solid. Burns green in flares. Borax, its best known compound, goes into fiberglass.
Flerovium Fl, atomic number 114, expected to be a solid. Named for the Flerov Laboratory in Dubna, Russia.
Gallium Ga, atomic number 31, a solid. Melts in your hand, just under 30°C. Used in LEDs and semiconductors.
Germanium Ge, atomic number 32, a solid. Transistors, fiber optics and infrared lenses. Named for Germany.
Indium In, atomic number 49, a solid. Clear conductive coating on flat screens. Named for an indigo spectrum line.
Lead Pb, atomic number 82, a solid. Car batteries and X-ray shields. A poison that builds up in the body.
Livermorium Lv, atomic number 116, expected to be a solid. Named for the Lawrence Livermore laboratory in California.
Moscovium Mc, atomic number 115, expected to be a solid. Named for the Moscow region, home of the Dubna laboratory.
Nihonium Nh, atomic number 113, expected to be a solid. Its name comes from Nihon, a Japanese word for Japan.
Polonium Po, atomic number 84, a solid. Anti-static brushes. Marie Curie named it for Poland, her native country.
Silicon Si, atomic number 14, a solid. Pure crystals become computer chips. As sand it becomes glass and concrete.
Tellurium Te, atomic number 52, a solid. Makes copper and stainless steel easier to machine. Named for Tellus, Earth.
Thallium Tl, atomic number 81, a solid. Goes into low-melting glass. Named for the bright green line in its spectrum.
Tin Sn, atomic number 50, a solid. Coats steel cans. With copper it makes bronze, with lead it makes solder.

Nonmetals, halogens and noble gases 20

Argon Ar, atomic number 18, a gas. Fills light bulbs and shields welds. Its name is Greek for lazy.
Astatine At, atomic number 85, a solid. No use outside research. Its name is Greek for unstable.
Bromine Br, atomic number 35, a liquid. Red-brown and named for its stench. Goes into flame retardants.
Carbon C, atomic number 6, a solid. Graphite, diamond and charcoal are all carbon. Its name is Latin for charcoal.
Chlorine Cl, atomic number 17, a gas. Greenish yellow. Makes drinking water and swimming pools safe.
Fluorine F, atomic number 9, a gas. Fluorides go into toothpaste, and hydrofluoric acid etches glass.
Helium He, atomic number 2, a gas. Lifts balloons and blimps. First seen in the Sun's spectrum, in 1868.
Hydrogen H, atomic number 1, a gas. Makes ammonia for fertilizer and, as a liquid, fuels rockets.
Iodine I, atomic number 53, a solid. Turns starch deep blue, a classic lab test. Named for its violet vapor.
Krypton Kr, atomic number 36, a gas. Camera flash lamps. From 1960 to 1983 its orange-red light defined the meter.
Neon Ne, atomic number 10, a gas. Lights up advertising signs, its largest use. Its name is Greek for new.
Nitrogen N, atomic number 7, a gas. About 78% of the air. Turned into ammonia for fertilizer.
Oganesson Og, atomic number 118, expected to be a gas. The highest atomic number. Named for physicist Yuri Oganessian.
Oxygen O, atomic number 8, a gas. About 21% of the air. Needed for breathing and for anything to burn.
Phosphorus P, atomic number 15, a solid. Fertilizers and safety matches. Its name is Greek for light bearing.
Radon Rn, atomic number 86, a gas. Radioactive, and given off as radium decays. Found by Friedrich Dorn in 1900.
Selenium Se, atomic number 34, a solid. Conducts better in light, so it runs photocells. Named for Selene, the Moon.
Sulfur S, atomic number 16, a solid. Pale yellow. Makes sulfuric acid, vulcanizes rubber and goes into gunpowder.
Tennessine Ts, atomic number 117, expected to be a solid. Named for Tennessee, home of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Xenon Xe, atomic number 54, a gas. Camera flashes and strobe lights, and the fuel for ion engines in space.

Lanthanides 15

Cerium Ce, atomic number 58, a solid. The most abundant rare earth. Sparks in lighter flints. Named after Ceres.
Dysprosium Dy, atomic number 66, a solid. Laser materials. Its name is Greek for hard to get at.
Erbium Er, atomic number 68, a solid. Boosts signals in fiber optic cable and tints glass pink. Named after Ytterby.
Europium Eu, atomic number 63, a solid. Made the red glow in television screens. Named after Europe.
Gadolinium Gd, atomic number 64, a solid. Captures neutrons better than any other element. Named for Johan Gadolin.
Holmium Ho, atomic number 67, a solid. Few uses, but unusual magnetism. Named for Stockholm, Holmia in Latin.
Lanthanum La, atomic number 57, a solid. Camera lens glass and lighter flints. Its name is Greek for to lie hidden.
Lutetium Lu, atomic number 71, a solid. A catalyst in oil refining. Named for Lutetia, the ancient name of Paris.
Neodymium Nd, atomic number 60, a solid. Powerful permanent magnets; also tints glass violet. Its name means new twin.
Praseodymium Pr, atomic number 59, a solid. Colors glass yellow and goes into welder's goggles. Its name means green twin.
Promethium Pm, atomic number 61, a solid. All its isotopes are radioactive. Named for Prometheus, who stole fire.
Samarium Sm, atomic number 62, a solid. Samarium-cobalt magnets. Named for samarskite, the mineral it was found in.
Terbium Tb, atomic number 65, a solid. Green phosphor in screens. One of four elements named after Ytterby in Sweden.
Thulium Tm, atomic number 69, a solid. The least abundant natural rare earth. Named for Thule, the far north.
Ytterbium Yb, atomic number 70, a solid. Strengthens stainless steel. Named, like three other elements, after Ytterby.

Actinides 15

Actinium Ac, atomic number 89, a solid. A source of neutrons. Its name comes from the Greek for beam or ray.
Americium Am, atomic number 95, a solid. In household smoke detectors. Named for America, as europium is for Europe.
Berkelium Bk, atomic number 97, a solid. First made in December 1949. Named after Berkeley, California, its birthplace.
Californium Cf, atomic number 98, a solid. A strong neutron source that helps find gold and silver ores.
Curium Cm, atomic number 96, a solid. Made only in tiny amounts. Named after Marie and Pierre Curie.
Einsteinium Es, atomic number 99, a solid. Found in the debris of a 1952 thermonuclear test. Named for Albert Einstein.
Fermium Fm, atomic number 100, a solid. Named for Enrico Fermi, who built the first nuclear reactor. Found in 1952.
Lawrencium Lr, atomic number 103, a solid. First made in 1961. Named for Ernest Lawrence, who invented the cyclotron.
Mendelevium Md, atomic number 101, a solid. Named for Dmitri Mendeleev, the chemist who devised the periodic table.
Neptunium Np, atomic number 93, a solid. Neutron detectors. Named for Neptune, since that planet follows Uranus going outward.
Nobelium No, atomic number 102, a solid. No use outside research. Named for Alfred Nobel, who invented dynamite.
Plutonium Pu, atomic number 94, a solid. Plutonium-238 powers space probes. Named after Pluto.
Protactinium Pa, atomic number 91, a solid. No use outside research. Its name means before actinium, which it decays into.
Thorium Th, atomic number 90, a solid. Mantles for gas lanterns. Named for Thor, the Scandinavian god of thunder.
Uranium U, atomic number 92, a solid. Fuel for nuclear power plants. Named for the planet Uranus.

How this list was compiled: Names, symbols, atomic numbers, atomic masses, standard states at room temperature and element categories: the PubChem periodic table from the US National Library of Medicine, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/periodic-table/ (states for elements 110 to 118 are PubChem's 'expected' values, because too few atoms have been made to observe one). Uses, name origins and discovery dates: the PubChem element pages, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/element/1 to /118, which carry text from Jefferson Lab, Los Alamos National Laboratory and IUPAC. The count of 118 named elements: https://iupac.org/what-we-do/periodic-table-of-elements/. Atomic numbers 95 to 118 as the synthetic elements: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_element. The IUPAC spellings aluminium and caesium, shown in brackets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesium. Four elements named after Ytterby: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ytterby. Single facts that the PubChem text does not carry come from the English Wikipedia articles Gallium (melts in the hand), Germanium (fiber optics), Promethium (no stable isotope), Rhenium (jet engines), Indium (display coatings), Neodymium (magnets), Plutonium (named after Pluto), Livermorium (name) and Oganesson (highest atomic number), each at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ plus the element name. All checked 2026-09-18. Corrected 2026-09-19: bohrium is dated to the 1981 synthesis at GSI Darmstadt, which the IUPAC and IUPAP working group recognised in 1992 (the 1976 Dubna report was judged not convincing), and silver is the best conductor of heat and electricity of any metal, since diamond conducts heat better: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohrium and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver, both checked 2026-09-19. x.phase repeats x.state with the nine expected values (elements 110 to 118) gathered under one value, expected, so the page can filter on it. Licence: own work

How it works

The whole periodic table is in the draw: 118 elements, hydrogen to oganesson. One press deals five, perhaps gallium, tungsten and neon. Every card carries the symbol, atomic number, state at room temperature and one use, or the story behind the name where no use exists yet.

Read the full guide

Give me a random element, then what?

Run a symbol quiz: tap First 20 elements, then Hide all symbols and facts. Each card now shows a name only, so say the symbol and tap the cover to check. Or work backwards: pick a number 1 to 20 and name the element with that atomic number. As a class starter, draw 3 and ask what they share.

Solid, liquid or gas, and the nine marked expected

The State row filters on the state at room temperature, as PubChem lists it: 96 solids and 11 gases. Mercury and bromine are the only two elements that are liquid at room temperature. From darmstadtium at 110 to oganesson at 118 the card says expected. These have only been made a few atoms at a time, never as a sample large enough to see, so they get a chip of their own.

Two names carry a second spelling in brackets. Aluminium and caesium are the IUPAC spellings, aluminum and cesium the American ones.
One Swedish village named four elements. Yttrium, terbium, erbium and ytterbium all honor Ytterby, whose quarry held their ore.
A symbol that looks wrong comes from an older name. Na is natrium, K is kalium, Sb is stibium, Hg is hydrargyrum, W is wolfram.

Questions and answers

Does it cover the whole periodic table?

Yes. The random element generator holds 118 elements, every one named so far: 12 alkali and alkaline earth metals, 38 transition metals, 18 post-transition metals and metalloids, 20 nonmetals, halogens and noble gases, 15 lanthanides and 15 actinides. Two more chips cut across those six, the first 20 and the 24 synthetic, and the Period row keeps a draw to one row of the table.

Why do some cards tell a name story and give no use?

There is no use to give. From einsteinium at 99 upward, PubChem lists nothing outside basic research, and astatine, francium and protactinium are no different. Most of those cards say who or what the element honors: Lise Meitner, the town of Dubna, the state of Tennessee.

Which elements are synthetic?

The Synthetic elements chip holds atomic numbers 95 to 118, americium to oganesson. These 24 do not occur naturally on Earth and were first created between 1944 and 2010. Technetium came first, in 1937, but traces were later found in nature, as they were for promethium, astatine, neptunium and plutonium, so those five sit outside the chip.