Abbreviations for the elements in Chemistry
Print this table out and use it during Chemistry class to look up abbreviations you can use for the elements being discussed.
| actinium = Ac | aluminum = Al | amercium = Am | antimony = Sb | argon = Ar |
| arsenic = As | astatine = At | barium = Ba | berkelium = Bk | beryllium = Be |
| bismuth = Bi | bohrium = Bh | boron = B | bromine = Br | cadmium = Cd |
| calcium = Ca | californium = Cf | carbon = C | cerium = Ce | cesium = Cs |
| chlorine = Cl | chromium = Cr | cobalt = Co | copper = Cu | curium = Cm |
| dubnium = Db | dysprosium = Dy | einsteinum = Es | erbium = Er | europium = Eu |
| fermium = Fm | fluorine = F | francium = Fr | gadolinium = Gd | gallium = Ga |
| germanium = Ge | gold = Au | hafnium = Hf | hahnium = Hn | helium = He |
| holmium = Ho | hydrogen = H | indium = In | iodine = I | iridium = Ir |
| iron = Fe | juliotium = Jl | krypton = Kr | lanthanum = La | lawrencium = Lr |
| lead = Pb | lithium = Li | lutetium = Lu | magnesium = Mg | manganese = Mn |
| meltnerium = Mt | mendelevium = Md | mercury = Hg | molybdenum = Mo | neodymium = Nd |
| neon = Ne | neptunium = Np | nickel = Ni | niobium = Nb | nitrogen = N |
| nobelium = No | osmium = Os | oxygen = O | palladium = Pd | phosphorus = P |
| platinum = Pt | plutonium = Pu | polonium = Po | potassium = K | prasodymium = Pr |
| promethium = Pm | protactinium = Pa | radium = Ra | radon = Rn | rhodium = Rh |
| rubidium = Rb | ruthenium = Ru | rutherfordium = Rf | rhenium = Re | samarium = Sm |
| scandium = Sc | selenium = Se | silicon = Si | silver = Ag | sodium = Na |
| strontium = Sr | sulphur = S | technetium = Tc | tantalum = Ta | tellurium = Te |
| terbium = Tb | thallium = Tl | thorium = Th | thulium = Tm | tin = Sn |
| titanium = Ti | tungsten = W | uranium = U | vanadium = V | xenon = Xe |
| ytterbium = Yb | yttrium = Y | zinc = Zn | zirconium = Zr |
The names of the heavy elements whose atomic numbers are > 100 are formed by using affixes for each digit as follows: 0 = nil (n), 1 = un (u), 2 = bi (b), 3 = tri (t), 4 = quad (q), 5 = pent (p), 6 = hex (h), 7 = sept (s), 8 = oct (o), 9 = enn or en if it's the last digit (e) + "ium" is added at the end. For example, element 104 is unnilquadium (Unq), element 105 is Unnilpentium (Unp), and so on. The old names for 100-103 are still acceptible. And for fun, listen to Tom Lehrer singing the "Song of the elements" at Elements.swf.
1. On the left (Rutherford model of the atom): from ClipArtConnection.com and on the right (sample of ytterbium): from http://nobel.scas.bcit.bc.ca/resource/ptable/yb.htm (Ytterbium), which is no longer extant.
