Periodic table groups and families
Tap a family in the key to light up just those elements.
A group is one of the 18 columns. Elements in a group have the same number of valence electrons, so they react in similar ways. A family is a set of related elements; most families are a single group, but some, like the transition metals or metalloids, span several.
Alkali metals
Group 1 (except hydrogen). Soft, shiny metals with one valence electron that they give up so easily they react with water, sometimes explosively. Stored under oil.
Alkaline earth metals
Group 2. Two valence electrons, reactive but less than group 1. Calcium builds bones and shells; magnesium burns with a white flash.
Transition metals
Groups 3–12. Hard, dense metals that conduct well and often form colored compounds. Iron, copper, gold and platinum are here.
Scandium, Titanium, Vanadium, Chromium, Manganese, Iron, Cobalt, Nickel, Copper, Zinc, Yttrium, Zirconium, Niobium, Molybdenum, Technetium, Ruthenium, Rhodium, Palladium, Silver, Cadmium, Hafnium, Tantalum, Tungsten, Rhenium, Osmium, Iridium, Platinum, Gold, Mercury, Rutherfordium, Dubnium, Seaborgium, Bohrium, Hassium, Meitnerium, Darmstadtium, Roentgenium, Copernicium
Post-transition metals
Softer metals to the right of the transition metals, such as aluminum, tin and lead, with lower melting points.
Aluminum, Gallium, Indium, Tin, Thallium, Lead, Bismuth, Nihonium, Flerovium, Moscovium, Livermorium
Metalloids
The staircase between metals and nonmetals. Elements like silicon and germanium are semiconductors, the basis of computer chips.
Boron, Silicon, Germanium, Arsenic, Antimony, Tellurium, Polonium
Nonmetals
Hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur and selenium. Poor conductors that form molecules by sharing electrons. Most of your body is made of them.
Hydrogen, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, Sulfur, Selenium
Halogens
Group 17. Seven valence electrons, one short of full, which makes them very reactive. They form salts with metals: chlorine plus sodium is table salt.
Noble gases
Group 18. Full outer shells make them barely react. They glow in electric signs: neon red-orange, argon blue-violet.
Lanthanides
Elements 57–71, the rare earth metals. They fill the 4f subshell and are used in strong magnets, phone screens and lasers.
Lanthanum, Cerium, Praseodymium, Neodymium, Promethium, Samarium, Europium, Gadolinium, Terbium, Dysprosium, Holmium, Erbium, Thulium, Ytterbium, Lutetium
Actinides
Elements 89–103. All are radioactive. Uranium and plutonium fuel nuclear reactors; most past uranium were made in labs.
Actinium, Thorium, Protactinium, Uranium, Neptunium, Plutonium, Americium, Curium, Berkelium, Californium, Einsteinium, Fermium, Mendelevium, Nobelium, Lawrencium