How Many Elements Are There, And Are We Still Finding Them?
Edition 2026-10
118, and the last four got their names in 2016.
The short answer
118 have been confirmed. About 90 are found in nature; the rest have only been made in laboratories, a few atoms at a time. The last four got their names in 2016.
The Long Answer
An element is a substance made of only one kind of atom. What makes each kind different is the number of protons in its nucleus: hydrogen has 1, carbon 6, gold 79.
Dmitri Mendeleev published the first periodic table in 1869. He arranged the elements known then into rows and columns that grouped similar ones together, and left gaps for elements nobody had found yet. When they were found, they fitted.
The heaviest elements do not exist in nature. Scientists make them by smashing lighter nuclei together in particle accelerators, and some last less than a second. In November 2016 the last four on the table were named: nihonium (113), moscovium (115), tennessine (117) and oganesson (118).
No element heavier than 118 has been confirmed yet, though laboratories are trying. If one is, the table gets a new row.
Sources
- IUPAC: names of elements 113, 115, 117 and 118
- Chemistry World: the hunt for element 120
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: making superheavy elements
- US Department of Energy: nuclear physics
- LibreTexts Chemistry: the elements
- Royal Society of Chemistry: Gallium
- NASA Science: glossary
- USGS Circular 285: elements of the Earth's crust
- Royal Society of Chemistry: Mercury
- Royal Society of Chemistry: Bromine
- Guinness World Records: most common element in the body
- ICRP Reference Man: elements in the body
It is on the poster
Periodic Table Poster
The periodic table, drawn so a kid can read it.
$35 18x24$45 24x36
Reads alone from about 9
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