Jason English
Lunchtime Quiz: Name That Element
by Jason English - June 8, 2010 - 11:30 AM

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During a recent lunch meeting, Senior Editor Jenny, Co-Founder Mangesh and I played an impromptu game of “Name That Element.” (We have quite a time down here.) Now you can play along at home! Nothing complicated—we’ve given you the symbols of 11 elements. Can you tell us their names?

Take the Quiz: The Very Straightforward Periodic Table Quiz

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Comments (21)

  1. Way too easy…got them all without much thought. Paying attention in Chemistry does indeed pay off!

    posted by Kevin on 6-8-2010 at 11:35 am

  2. 11/11…but I have a degree in organic chemistry… so I would hate myself if I got these wrong.

    posted by Michael on 6-8-2010 at 11:40 am

  3. I got 10 but I’m giving myself 11 — there should be two acceptable answers for “S” (the US spells it differently than the rest of the world).

    posted by Mark on 6-8-2010 at 11:46 am

  4. I would have had 100%, but it didn’t give me “Wolfram” for “Tungsten”. I, too, am giving myself full marks.

    posted by Colin on 6-8-2010 at 12:03 pm

  5. Mark, not sure how you spelled Sulphur/Sulfur. After reading your comment I went back and changed the “ph”to “f” and both were acceptable.

    posted by Brad on 6-8-2010 at 12:20 pm

  6. Brad, Mark was right. I’ve added a few more acceptable answers since the quiz first went up.

    posted by Jason English on 6-8-2010 at 12:31 pm

  7. I’ll admit that I misspelled potassium, but I don’t have the luxury of saying mine was an accepted spelling…

    That said, I’m still giving myself 11/11 :)

    posted by tkrausse on 6-8-2010 at 1:45 pm

  8. freerice.com has elemental symbol quizes – a “basic” set and the full table – if anyone wants to brush up on the rest.

    posted by Laurel on 6-8-2010 at 2:20 pm

  9. *spoiler* Oddly, I knew gold was what it is because on Diff’rent Strokes, Willis told Arnold the way to remember it is if someone stole you gold watch, you’ld yell, “A! U!”

    posted by Helenann on 6-8-2010 at 3:17 pm

  10. Argh, I always mix up gold and silver!

    posted by Adrienne on 6-8-2010 at 3:35 pm

  11. What a guesser I am! Either that or I remember more than I know. 10 of 11 – and 5 of those were GUESSES!

    posted by Jess K on 6-8-2010 at 4:21 pm

  12. I missed three but one of them was a stupid slip and I should have known better. I slap my own wrist for being absentminded.

    posted by Nicole on 6-8-2010 at 4:50 pm

  13. *yawn* Piece of cake!

    posted by Leigh on 6-8-2010 at 4:52 pm

  14. 10. Damn you Tungsten!!!!!

    posted by Big Jonny on 6-8-2010 at 5:07 pm

  15. Lol…. when I was in middle school and people used to mix up AU and AG. We remembered it this way… “Silver Ain’t Gold (AG)” Silly, but it worked, years later I still remember it.

    posted by Michael on 6-8-2010 at 5:24 pm

  16. Where were the really hard ones, like Sb, or the rare earth elements (like the ones that are found in Sweden and named after variations of the village near where they are found), or the transuranic elements that are named after scientists

    posted by eric! on 6-8-2010 at 6:33 pm

  17. And I defy anybody to sort out Pa, Pd, Pm, and Pr AND spell them all correctly.

    posted by eric! on 6-8-2010 at 6:38 pm

  18. You didn’t use Su in the quiz….. the element of surprise.

    posted by this is not my name on 6-8-2010 at 7:23 pm

  19. Am I the oldest to get 11/11? I’m 72

    posted by Ken on 6-8-2010 at 7:44 pm

  20. A year ago you had the “name x in y minutes” contest and my suggestion was the Periodic table.

    Glad to see it be a quiz!

    posted by KerriD on 6-8-2010 at 10:38 pm

  21. I goofed out on the last one. I put in “Wungsten” aaargh!!!

    posted by Streak on 6-9-2010 at 12:01 am

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