# How much of the periodic table can you recite? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 17, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381 "2022-10-17T19:24:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/1 "2022-10-17T19:24:58Z")
I can state the first two rows in a flash although I sometimes stumble on Neon. After that it’s an educated guess. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/2 "2022-10-17T19:34:09Z")
Thanks to Tom Lehrer, I can recite about half the names (the first verse). Plus the last line of the second verse. They are not, of course, in order as they appear on the table. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/3 "2022-10-17T19:43:02Z")
The first row, and that’s it. In high school I had an odd fascination with the PTE and even made my own. I think at that time I could’ve recited several elements and perhaps even a few atomic weights and electron shell numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/4 "2022-10-17T19:44:32Z")
Um, Adamantium? Carbonadium? Duranium? Mithril? Tritanium? Vibranium? Do I get extra points for listing in alphabetical order? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/5 "2022-10-17T19:47:47Z")
Two minutes ago, when I read this and tried, I got to manganese. So a third of the way into the fourth row, but it’s been a while since last I worked on memorizing it. I could usually make it to the start of the lanthanoids when I recited it more regularly. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/6 "2022-10-17T19:55:47Z")
> [@naita](#): > > I could usually make it to the start of the lanthanoids when I recited it more regularly. A few years back, I decided to memorize the periodic table. I didn’t recite it but rather typed it into a file. I got so I could consistently do all but a small handful of elements and a few times did it without error. That only lasted a couple weeks and now I can’t do any better than before. So it didn’t take. No doubt age is the problem. If I were younger, I’m sure more would stick. (The same thing happened when I tried to memorize the Mexican states some time before that.) ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/7 "2022-10-17T20:03:56Z")
My 11th grade Chemistry teacher gave us a mnemonic for the two lines after H-HE The first is: LiBeBCNOFNe (pronounced LieBeeBuhKuhNoffNee) The second is: NaMgAlSiPSClAr (pronounced NahMigAlSipSklar) They just roll off the tongue, don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/8 "2022-10-17T20:05:48Z")
When it comes to reciting the periodic table, I’m just not in my element. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/9 "2022-10-17T20:12:18Z")
I made a rhyme that does not rhyme or make sense, but it still works for me after decades: **Li** rio **Be** llo **B** esa **C** onmigo **N** o **O** ses **F** alaz! Neon goes without saying. Then put **H** (and deuterium and tritium, if you are feeling **bold** ) and **He** on top, left and right. From there I could do the first two columns and the nobel gases. I can’t anymore. ☹ Will try again soon. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/10 "2022-10-17T20:29:23Z")
I can _remember_ being able to recite all the elements back in the early 70’s. Does that count? The PTE has gotten longer and I’ve gotten older so reciting stuff like that just doesn’t happen anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/11 "2022-10-17T20:38:14Z")
Only to Nitrogen, because Meg recites it that far in _A Wrinkle in Time_. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/12 "2022-10-17T20:40:56Z")
I know a lot of the ones near the bottom end in -ium. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/13 "2022-10-17T20:56:27Z")
If I’m trying to just list them in order, not very far (when I just tried it, only to sodium (11)). But I could do much further if I were filling in a blank table, even if I had to first draw the blank table myself: Possibly as far as rubidium (37) before the first gap, and a fair number past that as well. I’d be pretty hopeless on 104 and above, as those weren’t yet discovered at the time I was staring at periodic tables in high school. But those elements don’t belong on the periodic table, anyway, since the periodic table is about chemical properties, and those elements are too sparse and short-lived to even have chemical properties. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/14 "2022-10-17T20:59:05Z")
35 years ago I could recite the whole shebang, minus some trans-uraniums that have been synthesized since, of course. Now I stall out somewhere around Vanadium just into the 4th row. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/15 "2022-10-17T21:00:18Z")
Hydrogen. I’m done. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/16 "2022-10-17T21:07:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If I’m trying to just list them in order, not very far (when I just tried it, only to sodium (11)). But I could do much further if I were filling in a blank table, even if I had to first draw the blank table myself: Possibly as far as rubidium (37) before the first gap, and a fair number past that as well. This, except I probably wouldn’t get to Rubidium. I might be able to get a few dozen boxes right, though since the right and left hand sides are easier to remember beyond the first few boxes. I’d probably either forget which rows Cu, Ag, Au, and Pt are in or would remember correctly and get all 4. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/17 "2022-10-17T21:13:05Z")
True Story A few years ago, I was in the Philly March For Science. IIRC It was in defense to likely actions and policies that would happen after Trump became President. At one point, somebody yelled “Let’s chant the periodic table!” I yelled “H!” Somebody else yelled “H! E!” The original chanter yelled “I was just kidding and was unprepared for this!” It was a good day. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/18 "2022-10-17T23:34:18Z")
I got to sodium and thought calcium came next (it is magnesium) but was stuck after that. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/19 "2022-10-17T23:43:12Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > Um, Adamantium? Carbonadium? Duranium? Mithril? Tritanium? Vibranium? Do I get extra points for listing in alphabetical order? No, because you missed Unobtanium 😜. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-the-periodic-table-can-you-recite/973381/20 "2022-10-17T23:54:01Z")
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