The s, p, d and f blocks of the periodic table

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1HHydrogen1.008 2HeHelium4.003 3LiLithium6.94 4BeBeryllium9.012 5BBoron10.81 6CCarbon12.011 7NNitrogen14.007 8OOxygen15.999 9FFluorine18.998 10NeNeon20.18 11NaSodium22.99 12MgMagnesium24.305 13AlAluminum26.982 14SiSilicon28.085 15PPhosphorus30.974 16SSulfur32.06 17ClChlorine35.45 18ArArgon39.948 19KPotassium39.098 20CaCalcium40.078 21ScScandium44.956 22TiTitanium47.867 23VVanadium50.942 24CrChromium51.996 25MnManganese54.938 26FeIron55.845 27CoCobalt58.933 28NiNickel58.693 29CuCopper63.546 30ZnZinc65.38 31GaGallium69.723 32GeGermanium72.63 33AsArsenic74.922 34SeSelenium78.971 35BrBromine79.904 36KrKrypton83.798 37RbRubidium85.468 38SrStrontium87.62 39YYttrium88.906 40ZrZirconium91.224 41NbNiobium92.906 42MoMolybdenum95.95 43TcTechnetium98 44RuRuthenium101.07 45RhRhodium102.91 46PdPalladium106.42 47AgSilver107.87 48CdCadmium112.41 49InIndium114.82 50SnTin118.71 51SbAntimony121.76 52TeTellurium127.6 53IIodine126.9 54XeXenon131.29 55CsCesium132.91 56BaBarium137.33 57LaLanthanum138.91 58CeCerium140.12 59PrPraseodymium140.91 60NdNeodymium144.24 61PmPromethium145 62SmSamarium150.36 63EuEuropium151.96 64GdGadolinium157.25 65TbTerbium158.93 66DyDysprosium162.5 67HoHolmium164.93 68ErErbium167.26 69TmThulium168.93 70YbYtterbium173.05 71LuLutetium174.97 72HfHafnium178.49 73TaTantalum180.95 74WTungsten183.84 75ReRhenium186.21 76OsOsmium190.23 77IrIridium192.22 78PtPlatinum195.08 79AuGold196.97 80HgMercury200.59 81TlThallium204.38 82PbLead207.2 83BiBismuth208.98 84PoPolonium209 85AtAstatine210 86RnRadon222 87FrFrancium223 88RaRadium226 89AcActinium227 90ThThorium232.04 91PaProtactinium231.04 92UUranium238.03 93NpNeptunium237 94PuPlutonium244 95AmAmericium243 96CmCurium247 97BkBerkelium247 98CfCalifornium251 99EsEinsteinium252 100FmFermium257 101MdMendelevium258 102NoNobelium259 103LrLawrencium266 104RfRutherfordium267 105DbDubnium268 106SgSeaborgium269 107BhBohrium270 108HsHassium277 109MtMeitnerium278 110DsDarmstadtium281 111RgRoentgenium282 112CnCopernicium285 113NhNihonium286 114FlFlerovium289 115McMoscovium290 116LvLivermorium293 117TsTennessine294 118OgOganesson294 57–71La–LuLanthanides 89–103Ac–LrActinides

Periodic Table of Elements

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

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The periodic table is divided into four blocks, named after the type of subshell that is being filled with electrons: s, p, d and f. The s block is the two columns on the left plus helium, the p block the six columns on the right, the d block the transition metals in the middle, and the f block the lanthanides and actinides at the bottom.

Why the table has blocks

Electrons occupy subshells of four types. An s subshell holds 2 electrons, a p subshell 6, a d subshell 10 and an f subshell 14. The width of each block follows these numbers: the s block is 2 columns wide, the p block 6 and the d block 10, and in principle the f block is 14 (see the borderline cases below). An element's block tells you which kind of subshell receives its last electron in the filling order.

The four blocks

The s block covers groups 1 and 2 plus helium. Apart from the nonmetals hydrogen and helium, it holds reactive metals that lose their one or two s electrons to form +1 and +2 ions. The p block covers groups 13 to 18, except helium. It is the most varied block, with metals, all the metalloids and every nonmetal except hydrogen and helium.

The d block covers groups 3 to 12, the transition metals. Their d electrons let them form several ions, colored compounds and useful catalysts. The f block holds the lanthanides and actinides, where the 4f and 5f subshells fill. The lanthanides are chemically very similar to one another, and all the actinides are radioactive.

Reading configurations from the blocks

Because the blocks follow the filling order, an element's position gives its configuration. In period n, the s block fills the ns subshell, the p block fills np, the d block fills (n − 1)d and the f block fills (n − 2)f. Titanium is the second element of the d block in period 4, so its configuration ends in 3d²: [Ar] 3d² 4s². Bromine is the fifth element of the p block in period 4, so it ends in 4p⁵: [Ar] 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁵.

Borderline cases

Helium sits above the noble gases in group 18 because it behaves like them, but its configuration is 1s², so it is an s-block element and is colored that way here. Hydrogen, 1s¹, is in the s block too.

The edges of the f block are debated. Lanthanum, [Xe] 5d¹ 6s², and actinium, [Rn] 6d¹ 7s², have no f electrons, while lutetium and lawrencium already have a full f subshell. This table places all 15 lanthanides and all 15 actinides in the f-block rows, so each row has 15 cells rather than 14. Click a block in the legend to highlight it on the table.

Lesson

How to write electron configurations

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Printable periodic table

Block of each of the 118 elements

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Block of each of the 118 elements
1 Hydrogen H s Reactive nonmetal
2 Helium He s Noble gas
3 Lithium Li s Alkali metal
4 Beryllium Be s Alkaline earth metal
5 Boron B p Metalloid
6 Carbon C p Reactive nonmetal
7 Nitrogen N p Reactive nonmetal
8 Oxygen O p Reactive nonmetal
9 Fluorine F p Halogen
10 Neon Ne p Noble gas
11 Sodium Na s Alkali metal
12 Magnesium Mg s Alkaline earth metal
13 Aluminum Al p Post-transition metal
14 Silicon Si p Metalloid
15 Phosphorus P p Reactive nonmetal
16 Sulfur S p Reactive nonmetal
17 Chlorine Cl p Halogen
18 Argon Ar p Noble gas
19 Potassium K s Alkali metal
20 Calcium Ca s Alkaline earth metal
21 Scandium Sc d Transition metal
22 Titanium Ti d Transition metal
23 Vanadium V d Transition metal
24 Chromium Cr d Transition metal
25 Manganese Mn d Transition metal
26 Iron Fe d Transition metal
27 Cobalt Co d Transition metal
28 Nickel Ni d Transition metal
29 Copper Cu d Transition metal
30 Zinc Zn d Transition metal
31 Gallium Ga p Post-transition metal
32 Germanium Ge p Metalloid
33 Arsenic As p Metalloid
34 Selenium Se p Reactive nonmetal
35 Bromine Br p Halogen
36 Krypton Kr p Noble gas
37 Rubidium Rb s Alkali metal
38 Strontium Sr s Alkaline earth metal
39 Yttrium Y d Transition metal
40 Zirconium Zr d Transition metal
41 Niobium Nb d Transition metal
42 Molybdenum Mo d Transition metal
43 Technetium Tc d Transition metal
44 Ruthenium Ru d Transition metal
45 Rhodium Rh d Transition metal
46 Palladium Pd d Transition metal
47 Silver Ag d Transition metal
48 Cadmium Cd d Transition metal
49 Indium In p Post-transition metal
50 Tin Sn p Post-transition metal
51 Antimony Sb p Metalloid
52 Tellurium Te p Metalloid
53 Iodine I p Halogen
54 Xenon Xe p Noble gas
55 Cesium Cs s Alkali metal
56 Barium Ba s Alkaline earth metal
57 Lanthanum La f Lanthanide
58 Cerium Ce f Lanthanide
59 Praseodymium Pr f Lanthanide
60 Neodymium Nd f Lanthanide
61 Promethium Pm f Lanthanide
62 Samarium Sm f Lanthanide
63 Europium Eu f Lanthanide
64 Gadolinium Gd f Lanthanide
65 Terbium Tb f Lanthanide
66 Dysprosium Dy f Lanthanide
67 Holmium Ho f Lanthanide
68 Erbium Er f Lanthanide
69 Thulium Tm f Lanthanide
70 Ytterbium Yb f Lanthanide
71 Lutetium Lu f Lanthanide
72 Hafnium Hf d Transition metal
73 Tantalum Ta d Transition metal
74 Tungsten W d Transition metal
75 Rhenium Re d Transition metal
76 Osmium Os d Transition metal
77 Iridium Ir d Transition metal
78 Platinum Pt d Transition metal
79 Gold Au d Transition metal
80 Mercury Hg d Transition metal
81 Thallium Tl p Post-transition metal
82 Lead Pb p Post-transition metal
83 Bismuth Bi p Post-transition metal
84 Polonium Po p Post-transition metal
85 Astatine At p Halogen
86 Radon Rn p Noble gas
87 Francium Fr s Alkali metal
88 Radium Ra s Alkaline earth metal
89 Actinium Ac f Actinide
90 Thorium Th f Actinide
91 Protactinium Pa f Actinide
92 Uranium U f Actinide
93 Neptunium Np f Actinide
94 Plutonium Pu f Actinide
95 Americium Am f Actinide
96 Curium Cm f Actinide
97 Berkelium Bk f Actinide
98 Californium Cf f Actinide
99 Einsteinium Es f Actinide
100 Fermium Fm f Actinide
101 Mendelevium Md f Actinide
102 Nobelium No f Actinide
103 Lawrencium Lr f Actinide
104 Rutherfordium Rf d Transition metal
105 Dubnium Db d Transition metal
106 Seaborgium Sg d Transition metal
107 Bohrium Bh d Transition metal
108 Hassium Hs d Transition metal
109 Meitnerium Mt d Unknown properties
110 Darmstadtium Ds d Unknown properties
111 Roentgenium Rg d Unknown properties
112 Copernicium Cn d Unknown properties
113 Nihonium Nh p Unknown properties
114 Flerovium Fl p Unknown properties
115 Moscovium Mc p Unknown properties
116 Livermorium Lv p Unknown properties
117 Tennessine Ts p Unknown properties
118 Oganesson Og p Unknown properties

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