Elements 11 to 20
Elements 11 to 20: a chapter of The Periodic Table Book, with each element's symbol, number and story.
12 cards · Science
Each Zap teaches up to 5 new cards, so you learn the chapter a few at a time.
Checked by the Brain Zap team · reviewed 27 Oct 2026
Sources: Periodic Table of Elements (IUPAC), Periodic Table (Royal Society of Chemistry)
Preview
Symbol: Na
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Sodium
Learn more: Its symbol comes from natrium, its Latin name. It reacts fiercely with water.
Symbol: Mg
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Magnesium
Learn more: Burning magnesium lit early camera flashes; it also sits at the heart of chlorophyll.
Symbol: Al
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Aluminium
Learn more: The most common metal in Earth's crust, it was once so hard to extract that it cost more than gold.
Element 14
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Silicon
Learn more: Sand is mostly silicon dioxide, and purified silicon is the base of almost every computer chip.
Symbol: P
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Phosphorus
Learn more: Found in 1669 by an alchemist boiling down urine; one form glows faintly in the dark.
About this topic
The third row runs from sodium to argon, and the fourth begins with potassium and calcium. Here are the two halves of table salt, the metal of drinks cans, the element at the heart of every computer chip and the mineral that makes your bones hard. Watch the symbols: sodium is Na and potassium K, from their old Latin names, natrium and kalium. Two more cards ask which family a set of elements belongs to.
This is a chapter of The Periodic Table Book. Each card shows a symbol or an atomic number and asks for the element's name, with a hint before you answer and a fact after.
All 12 cards
Symbol: Na
Sodium
Learn more: Its symbol comes from natrium, its Latin name. It reacts fiercely with water.
Symbol: Mg
Magnesium
Learn more: Burning magnesium lit early camera flashes; it also sits at the heart of chlorophyll.
Symbol: Al
Aluminium
Learn more: The most common metal in Earth's crust, it was once so hard to extract that it cost more than gold.
Element 14
Silicon
Learn more: Sand is mostly silicon dioxide, and purified silicon is the base of almost every computer chip.
Symbol: P
Phosphorus
Learn more: Found in 1669 by an alchemist boiling down urine; one form glows faintly in the dark.
Symbol: S
Sulfur
Learn more: Pure sulfur is a yellow solid; the rotten-egg smell comes from a gas it forms with hydrogen.
Symbol: Cl
Chlorine
Learn more: A poisonous green-yellow gas, yet joined with sodium it makes the salt you eat.
Element 18
Argon
Learn more: About 1% of the air is argon, more than carbon dioxide; its name means lazy in Greek.
Symbol: K
Potassium
Learn more: Its symbol K comes from kalium, its Latin name. It reacts with water even more violently than sodium.
Symbol: Ca
Calcium
Learn more: Chalk, limestone and marble are all calcium carbonate; it is the fifth most common element in the crust.
Group of lithium, sodium and potassium
Alkali metals
Learn more: They have one outer electron that they give away easily, so they react fiercely with water.
Group of fluorine, chlorine and bromine
Halogens
Learn more: They join metals to make salts, such as sodium chloride; all are reactive and many are poisonous.
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