How to memorize the periodic table, one row at a time

Elements 1 to 36, row by row

Start with the frame, not the names. Each row of the table ends with a noble gas, so the first four rows hold 2, 8, 8 and 18 elements. Learn where each row starts and stops, and every name has a place to go.

Row 1 is 1 to 2, row 2 is 3 to 10, row 3 is 11 to 18, and row 4 is 19 to 36. Spellings follow PubChem’s US forms: aluminum, sulfur.

The columns that repeat

Elements in the same column behave alike, and three columns come up in almost every chapter. Learn them as families and you know 10 elements twice: once by row, once by column.

• Alkali metals (column 1): lithium, sodium, potassium. Hydrogen sits above them but isn’t one.
• Halogens (column 17): fluorine, chlorine, bromine.
• Noble gases (column 18): helium, neon, argon, krypton, the four row endings.

Tip: When you blank on an element, find its row and column first. “Row 3, halogen” gets you to chlorine faster than running the whole list from hydrogen.

A mnemonic for each row

Each word starts with the element’s symbol, in order, and the two-letter symbols are spelled out where they can be (Li-ttle, Be-es, Ne-ctar).

The mnemonic gets you the order; the flashcards get you the names. Say the sentence, then name each element as you go: “Little, lithium. Bees, beryllium.”

The symbol mix-ups that cost points

• The 4 odd symbols: Na is sodium (from natron), K is potassium (from kalium), Cu is copper (from the Latin for metal from Cyprus) and Fe is iron. Make these your first cards.
• Mg versus Mn: Mg is magnesium (12), Mn is manganese (25).
• S, Si, Sc, Se: sulfur (16), silicon (14), scandium (21), selenium (34). Four elements, one starting letter.
• Co versus CO: Co is cobalt; CO is carbon monoxide, a compound. The second letter of a symbol is always lowercase.
• P is phosphorus. Potassium is K, not P, and phosphorus is never Ph.
• Ar versus As: argon (18) is a noble gas; arsenic (33) is a metalloid in row 4.

A week that makes it stick

Spreading practice over several days is one of only two study techniques rated high utility in a major review (Dunlosky et al., 2013), and the longer you need to remember something, the wider your review gaps should be (Cepeda et al., 2006). For a quiz next week:

If your quiz covers only the first 20, stop after day 2 and use days 3 to 7 for review.

More lists worth memorizing

Ions build on the elements: see how to memorize the polyatomic ions, which uses the same pattern-first approach, then the solubility rules, where group 1 and group 2 decide what dissolves, and the strong acids and bases, which follow the halogens and the same two groups.

For biology, anatomy and maths, there are the 20 amino acids, the bones of the body and the unit circle, each with a free deck.

The same chunking works outside science too: how to memorize the presidents in order learns all 47 in 6 short groups, and how to memorize the amendments all 27 in 5.