Element Picker

Element Picker

Reveal a Random Chemical Element from the Periodic Table

Element Picker

— —atomic mass
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Reveal an element
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Electrons  —
State at 20°C—
What it's used for—

Element Picker

Every tile is coloured by its element category — the same grouping a periodic table uses.

Alkali metal Alkaline earth Transition metal Post-transition Metalloid Reactive nonmetal Halogen Noble gas Lanthanide Actinide Unknown

Reveal a random element from the whole periodic table. A highlight sweeps the tiles, settles on one, and it opens into a card you can actually learn from — symbol, atomic number and mass, its category, a Bohr diagram of its electron shells, and what it's used for. Perfect for chemistry lessons, revision and trivia.

  • All 118 elements
  • Built for chemistry class
  • A fair, fresh element each time
The periodic table, one card at a time

The Element Picker turns the periodic table into a reveal. A highlight sweeps the 118 tiles, decelerates, and settles on one element — which lifts off the board and opens into a card built to teach: its symbol, atomic number and mass, the category it belongs to, a Bohr diagram drawn from its real electron shells, and one thing it's used for in the world.

Why a reveal beats a plain list

Handing a student the whole periodic table at once is overwhelming; nobody learns 118 elements by staring at a grid. Drawing one element and reading its card is how the table actually gets learned — a single, self-contained fact you can talk about, sketch, or research. Use it as a bell-ringer, a revision round, a "research the element you land on" assignment, or just to satisfy your own curiosity about what caesium or promethium actually does.

How to read the card

  • Symbol & atomic number — the one- or two-letter symbol and the number of protons (which is what makes an element that element).
  • Atomic mass — the average mass of its atoms, in atomic mass units.
  • Category — the coloured group it belongs to (alkali metal, noble gas, halogen, transition metal and so on). Every tile on the board shares this colour code.
  • Electron shells — the little Bohr diagram and the "2, 8, 6"-style read-out show how the electrons are arranged in shells around the nucleus.
  • State & use — whether it's a solid, liquid or gas at room temperature, and a real-world job it does.

A few you might land on

ElementSymbolCategoryUsed for
OxygenOReactive nonmetalRespiration and combustion
SiliconSiMetalloidComputer chips and solar cells
NeonNeNoble gasGlowing advertising signs
IronFeTransition metalSteel — and the oxygen in your blood
NeodymiumNdLanthanideThe strongest permanent magnets
UraniumUActinideNuclear power and weapons

Narrow it to fit the lesson

The full board draws from all 118 elements, but you can narrow the draw with the Draw from control: First 20 (H–Ca) keeps it to the elements most introductory courses cover, and Everyday elements sticks to the ones students actually meet — carbon, oxygen, iron, gold, aluminium and the like. Whatever the scope, the element is chosen with a cryptographically fair random draw, so every eligible tile has exactly the same chance.

Exploring the wider science shelf? Pair it with the Planet Picker for astronomy or the Famous Scientist Picker for the people behind the discoveries.

Frequently asked questions

Yes — every element from hydrogen (1) to oganesson (118), laid out in its real place on the periodic table. You can narrow the draw to the first 20 or to everyday elements if you prefer.

Each colour is an element category — alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, transition metals, post-transition metals, metalloids, reactive nonmetals, halogens, noble gases, lanthanides, actinides, and the not-yet-well-characterised superheavy elements. The colour key is beside the table.

It's a Bohr model — a simple picture of the atom with electrons arranged in shells around the nucleus. The number in the centre is the atomic number (the proton count), and the rings show how many electrons sit in each shell.

Yes. The winner is picked with your browser's cryptographically secure random generator, so every element in the current scope has an exactly equal chance — no element is favoured.

Very. Teachers use it as a lesson starter or a "research the element you land on" task; students use it to quiz themselves on symbols, categories and electron shells. Each card is a bite-sized, self-contained fact.

Yes — after a reveal you can save the card as a PNG image, or tick "Download the card after each reveal" to get one automatically every time.

The superheavy elements beyond about number 100 have only ever been made a few atoms at a time, and those atoms vanish in moments — so their everyday properties, including whether they'd be a solid, liquid or gas, have never been measured and are only predicted.

Completely free, with no sign-up. Reveal as many elements as you like, on any device.