Name _________________________________________ Period ___________ Date ________________

Worksheet: What Are The Symbols For The Elements?

Symbols are signs that stand for something else. Here are some symbols that you may know: $ % @
& #. What does each one stand for?

There is a symbol for each of the 106 chemical elements. There are 106 symbols because there are
106 elements. The symbols for the elements are the same all over the world. It makes no difference
what country you are in or what language you speak; the chemical symbols are the same.

I. HOW DO THE ELEMENTS GET THEIR SYMBOLS?

1. Often the first letter of the element’s name is the symbol for that element.
2. The name of the element may begin with a letter that is already the symbol for another
element. In that case, it may be the first and second letters that are used or the first letter
and another letter in the name may be used to make the symbol.
3. The first letter of the symbol is always capitalized. The second letter (if used) is always a
lowercase letter.
4. A few elements are named after places or famous scientists.

II. HOW ELEMENTS ARE NAMED

Study the Periodic Table of Elements that you were given. Do any of the names of the elements
sound familiar? They should. Some elements have ancient names of Latin and Greek origins; but
many other were named for famous scientists, countries, planets, etc. With a copy of the Periodic
Table before you, answer the following questions.
1. There are several elements named for famous scientists. Can you find three?
__________________ , __________________ , and _____________________
2. There are four elements named for the planets. Can you find all four of them?
__________________ , ___________________ , ___________________ , and ____________________
3. There is one element named for a city in the United States and another for the state of that
city. Can you find the element named for the city and the element named for the state?
(Hint: They are next to each other on the table.) ___________________ and ___________________
4. There are two elements named for large regions which include several countries. Do you
know what these elements are called? ________________ and ________________
5. Element numbers 39, 65, 68, and 70 were all named for the same city, Ytterby, Sweden.
What are the names of these elements?
__________________ , ___________________ , ___________________ , and ____________________
6. The ancient name for France was Gaul, and the ancient name for Russia was Ruthernia.
Can you find the elements named for these ancient lands?
_____________________ and _______________________
7. Find the elements named in honor of France, America, Poland, and Germany.
__________________ , ___________________ , ___________________ , and ____________________
III. ANCIENT NAMES FOR THE ELEMENTS
Plumbum
Natrium
Aurum
Stibium
Argentum
Hydrargyrum (Greek)
Kalium
Ferrum
This exercise will help you to remember the symbols of some of the elements which are not similar
to their modern names. The elements listed above were named in ancient times by the early
Romans and Greeks. Although we do not use these names, we have kept the symbols. How many of
these ancient names can you match to their modern names and symbols given below?
Modern Name Symbol Ancient Name
8. Antimony Sb ___________________________
9. Gold Au ___________________________
10. Iron Fe ___________________________
11. Silver Ag ___________________________
12. Sodium Na ___________________________
13. Potassium K ___________________________
14. Lead Pb ___________________________
15. Mercury Hg ___________________________

IV. COMPLETE SENTENCES

Complete the sentences with the words below.
capital two elements symbol small
16. The short way of writing an element name is called its _________________________.
17. The first letter of a chemical symbol is always a ___________________ letter.
18. If a chemical symbol has two letters, the second letter is always a ______________ letter.
19. A chemical symbol never has more than __________ letters.
20. Chemists use symbols for the names of ______________________.
 An Elemental Tale: The Gold Dust Kid
Name___________________
Date____________ Per___

The Kid mounted his trusty steed, old [B] ___________. His shooting
[Fe] ____________ strapped to his side, he headed out for the bright
[Ne] ____________ lights of Toronto, aiming to rob the mid-day
stage. There was sure to be a load of precious [U] ______________
aboard, and probably [K] ____________, too. Inhaling a deep breath
of [O] __________ he coughed on the [S] ____________ from the
nearby mills. Since the [Hg] ______________ was climbing, he
quenched his thirst with some H2O, tasting the [Cl] ____________ all
big cities like Brockville had. As he headed north his bones ached
from [Ca] _____________deposits built up over the years of riding the
[Zn] ____________ trail. Overhead a [He] __________-filled balloon
floated in the breeze; the sun beat down like burning [P]
____________. Soon he spotted the stage, guarded only by a sheriff
with a [Sn] ____________ badge. "Halt," he yelled. "or I'll fill you
full of [Pb] ____________." The sheriff drew his gun, but alas, was
too slow. The Kid's gun, blazing like flaming [Mg] ______________
did the [Cu] ____________ in. Anyone who drew on the Kid should
know his life wasn't worth a plugged [Ni] ______________. A [Pt]
____________ blonde riding beside the [Al] ___________-framed
coach rode for her life when the Kid pulled out some [N]
____________ compounds, preparing to blow the safe to atoms.
Suddenly, a shout rang out, "Hi Ho [Ag] ___________ and a masked
man on a white horse raced across the [Si] ____________ sands like
[Na] ______________ skittering on H2O. A [H] ___________ bomb
would not have stopped the lawman; the Kid had met his doom. The
rest of his life was to be spent behind [Co] ___________ steel bars, a
warning to all who flirt with danger. Your first detention may be the
initial step in a [C] ____________ copy life of the saga of the [Au]
___________ dust Kid.