HHydrogenThe start of everything. Also of every argument.HeHeliumLight, floats away, nobody can hold on to it.LiLithiumSmall, light, and somehow powering everything.BeBerylliumLight, stiff, and not to be handled casually.BBoronHard, quiet, and holding more things together than you'd guess.CCarbonBonds with everyone. Literally holds life together.NNitrogenMakes up most of the air. Refuses to react to it.OOxygenEveryone needs you. It's exhausting.FFluorineThe most reactive thing on the table. Will not be ignored.NeNeonBonds with no one. Brightest thing in the room anyway.NaSodiumExplodes on contact with water. Also with group chats.MgMagnesiumBurns so bright you shouldn't look directly at it.AlAluminiumLight, useful, and in every kitchen on Earth.SiSiliconQuietly running the entire modern world.PPhosphorusGlows in the dark. Occasionally bursts into flames.SSulfurYellow, pungent, and in far more things than you'd expect.ClChlorineCleans everything. Not gentle about it.ArArgonThe name literally means 'lazy'. Doing fine, thanks.KPotassiumSodium's louder sibling. Found in bananas and explosions.CaCalciumThe backbone. Also the teeth.ScScandiumRare, light, and tougher than it looks.TiTitaniumStrong, light, and immune to almost everything.VVanadiumChanges colour with its mood. Strong in every one of them.CrChromiumShiny, hard, and completely rust-proof.MnManganeseIn every steel beam and nobody's headline.FeIronThe reliable backbone. Rusts, but holds.CoCobaltThe blue in the glass. Magnetic in every sense.NiNickelIn every coin, every magnet, and nobody's top ten.CuCopperWarm, conductive, and the reason your phone works.ZnZincProtects everything it touches. Asks for nothing.GaGalliumMelts in your hand. Solid everywhere else.GeGermaniumThe quiet one that made the first transistor.AsArsenicPoison in the right dose. Medicine in the other.SeSeleniumTurns light into electricity. Also turns up in shampoo.BrBromineThe only liquid nonmetal. Smells like it means it.KrKryptonHidden in plain sight. Glows when it matters.RbRubidiumExplodes on contact with water. Also keeps atomic clocks honest.SrStrontiumThe red in the fireworks.YYttriumNamed after a Swedish village. Used in lasers.ZrZirconiumSurvives inside a nuclear reactor. Politely.NbNiobiumSuperconducting, if it's cold enough.MoMolybdenumHard at any temperature. Named after lead by mistake.TcTechnetiumThe first element made by humans. Never found in nature.RuRutheniumRare, tough, and hiding inside every hard drive.RhRhodiumThe most expensive metal on Earth. Doesn't care.PdPalladiumMakes reactions happen. Takes none of the credit.AgSilverShiny, precious, and just a little aloof.CdCadmiumBright yellow, quietly toxic.InIndiumSoft enough to scratch with a fingernail. In every touchscreen.SnTinBends without breaking. Screams when you bend it.SbAntimonyAncient eyeliner. Modern flame retardant.TeTelluriumSmells of garlic for weeks. Rarer than platinum.IIodineViolet vapour. Essential in tiny amounts.XeXenonSilent, stable, and only glows when provoked.CsCaesiumGolden, liquid on a warm day, and the most reactive metal there is.BaBariumThe green in the fireworks. Also the drink before an X-ray.LaLanthanumThe hidden one. First of the rare earths.CeCeriumSparks when struck. The most common rare earth.PrPraseodymiumGreen in glass. Gives welders their goggles.NdNeodymiumThe strongest magnets in the world.PmPromethiumNamed after the Titan who stole fire. Glows in the dark.SmSamariumMagnets that don't quit, even when it's hot.EuEuropiumThe red in every screen. Most reactive of the rare earths.GdGadoliniumMakes MRI scans clearer. Named after a chemist.TbTerbiumThe green in the screen. Bends in a magnetic field.DyDysprosium'Hard to get.' It's literally in the name.HoHolmiumThe most magnetic element there is. Named after Stockholm.ErErbiumPink glass. Carries the internet under the ocean.TmThuliumThe rarest of the rare earths. Fits in your pocket.YbYtterbiumBends under pressure and changes its conductivity.LuLutetiumLast of the rare earths. Hardest, densest, most expensive.HfHafniumTwin of zirconium. Swallows neutrons for a living.TaTantalumDoesn't react with your body. In every phone.WTungstenHighest melting point of any metal. Lights the room.ReRheniumOne of the rarest elements. Keeps jet engines together.OsOsmiumThe densest thing on the table. Smells terrible when annoyed.IrIridiumSurvives anything. Found in the layer that killed the dinosaurs.PtPlatinumRarer than gold. Quieter about it.AuGoldReacts to no one. Wanted by everyone.HgMercuryThe only metal that's liquid. Hard to pin down.TlThalliumTasteless, odourless, and the poisoner's favourite.PbLeadHeavy, slow, and impossible to move once settled.BiBismuthRainbow crystals. Barely radioactive over a billion billion years.PoPoloniumDiscovered by Marie Curie. Famous for the wrong reasons.AtAstatineLess than a gram exists on Earth. At any given moment.RnRadonComes up through the floor. Leaves without a trace.FrFranciumA few grams on Earth. Lasts 22 minutes.RaRadiumGlowed on watch dials. Cost more than diamonds.AcActiniumGlows blue in the dark. First of its family.ThThoriumCould power the world. Still waiting for its turn.PaProtactiniumBetween thorium and uranium. Nobody's favourite.UUraniumSits quietly. Contains enormous power.NpNeptuniumNamed after Neptune. First of the ones made by hand.PuPlutoniumWarm to the touch. Named after a planet that got demoted.AmAmericiumIn every smoke detector. Named after a continent.CmCuriumNamed after the Curies. Glows purple.BkBerkeliumNamed after Berkeley. Made a few atoms at a time.CfCaliforniumA neutron source you can hold. Expensive.EsEinsteiniumFound in the fallout of the first hydrogen bomb.FmFermiumMade in a mushroom cloud. Never seen with the naked eye.MdMendeleviumMade one atom at a time. Named after the man who built the table.NoNobeliumNamed after the inventor of dynamite. Lasts under an hour.LrLawrenciumLast of the actinides. Named after the man who built the machine.RfRutherfordiumNamed after the man who split the atom. Gone in seconds.DbDubniumNamed after a town of scientists. Studied one atom at a time.SgSeaborgiumThe first element named after a living person.BhBohriumNamed after Bohr. Lasts about a minute.HsHassiumNamed after a German state. Heavier than anyone expected.MtMeitneriumNamed after the woman who explained fission. Never had her Nobel.DsDarmstadtiumNamed after the city where it was made. Below platinum on the table.RgRoentgeniumBelow gold on the table. Named after the man who found X-rays.CnCoperniciumNamed after Copernicus. Might be a gas.NhNihoniumThe first element discovered in Asia.FlFleroviumNamed after a Russian physicist. Might act like a noble gas.McMoscoviumNamed after Moscow. Exists for a fraction of a second.LvLivermoriumNamed after a laboratory. Gone in milliseconds.TsTennessineNamed after a US state. The second-heaviest known element.OgOganessonThe heaviest element there is. Lived for less than a millisecond.