Element by Symbol Lookup

About this calculator

Every entry on the periodic table has a one- or two-letter symbol (like Fe for iron or Na for sodium, both derived from Latin names) alongside its full element name and atomic number Z — the count of protons in the nucleus, which is what actually defines the element and fixes its position in the table.

Looking up an element by symbol, or the reverse — finding the symbol and atomic number for a name — is one of the most routine reference tasks in chemistry, used constantly by students working through equations and lab reports, and by lab technicians reading reagent labels or safety data sheets where only the symbol is given. This tool takes either a chemical symbol or an element name and returns the matching element with its atomic number.