Chemical elements are the basic building blocks of matter. Elements are referred to by their names and their symbols. This makes it easier to write chemical structures and equations.
Examples
The first 20 elements of the periodic table are listed below. These elements include some of the most abundant in the universe (hydrogen, oxygen, carbon) as well as some of the most unusual (phosphorus, boron).
- H - Hydrogen
- He - Helium
- Li - Lithium
- Be - Beryllium
- B - Boron
- C - Carbon
- N - Nitrogen
- O - Oxygen
- F - Fluorine
- Ne - Neon
- Na - Sodium
- Mg - Magnesium
- Al - Aluminum
- Si - Silicon
- P - Phosphorus
- S - Sulfur
- Cl - Chlorine
- Ar - Argon
- K - Potassium
- Ca - Calcium
Notice that the symbols are one- and two-letter abbreviations for their names, with a few exceptions where symbols are based on old names. For example, potassium is K for kalium, not P, which is already the element symbol for phosphorus.