Element Names and Symbols
Throughout this course chemical symbols will be used interchangeably with the names of elements in lectures, labs, and on exams. Many symbols for elements consist of the first one or two letters of the element's name. Others are from Latin or Greek names and in no way resemble the English equivalent name. Still others consist of the first and third letter. The following names and symbols will be used in this course and should be committed to memory as soon as possible in order to avoid confusion in lecture and test situations. An * is placed next to any name that is not a simple first, or first and second letter symbol.
| Atomic # | Element Name | Symbol |
| 1 | Hydrogen | H |
| 2 | Helium | He |
| 3 | Lithium | Li |
| 4 | Beryllium | Be |
| 5 | Boron | B |
| 6 | Carbon | C |
| 7 | Nitrogen | N |
| 8 | Oxygen | O |
| 9 | Fluorine | F |
| 10 | Neon | Ne |
| 11 | Sodium * | Na |
| 12 | Magnesium * | Mg |
| 13 | Aluminum | Al |
| 14 | Silicon | Si |
| 15 | Phosphorous | P |
| 16 | Sulfur | S |
| 17 | Chlorine * | Cl |
| 18 | Argon | Ar |
| 19 | Potassium * | K |
| 20 | Calcium | Ca |
| 24 | Chromium * | Cr |
| 25 | Manganese * | Mn |
| 26 | Iron * | Fe |
| 28 | Nickel | Ni |
| 29 | Copper * | Cu |
| 30 | Zinc * | Zn |
| 33 | Arsenic * | As |
| 35 | Bromine | Br |
| 38 | Strontium * | Sr |
| 47 | Silver * | Ag |
| 50 | Tin * | Sn |
| 53 | Iodine | I |
| 55 | Cesium * | Cs |
| 56 | Barium | Ba |
| 79 | Gold * | Au |
| 80 | Mercury * | Hg |
| 82 | Lead * | Pb |
| 92 | Uranium | U |
| 94 | Plutonium | Pu |