| Group # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 H | 2 He | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | 3 Li | 4 Be | 5 B | 6 C | 7 N | 8 O | 9 F | 10 Ne | ||||||||||
| 3 | 11 Na | 12 Mg | 13 Al | 14 Si | 15 P | 16 S | 17 Cl | 18 Ar | ||||||||||
| 4 | 19 K | 20 Ca | 21 Sc | 22 Ti | 23 V | 24 Cr | 25 Mn | 26 Fe | 27 Co | 28 Ni | 29 Cu | 30 Zn | 31 Ga | 32 Ge | 33 As | 34 Se | 35 Br | 36 Kr |
| 5 | 37 Rb | 38 Sr | 39 Y | 40 Zr | 41 Nb | 42 Mo | 43 Tc | 44 Ru | 45 Rh | 46 Pd | 47 Ag | 48 Cd | 49 In | 50 Sn | 51 Sb | 52 Te | 53 I | 54 Xe |
| 6 | 55 Cs | 56 Ba | * | 72 Hf | 73 Ta | 74 W | 75 Re | 76 Os | 77 Ir | 78 Pt | 79 Au | 80 Hg | 81 Tl | 82 Pb | 83 Bi | 84 Po | 85 At | 86 Rn |
| 7 | 87 Fr | 88 Ra | ** | 104 Rf | 105 Db | 106 Sg | 107 Bh | 108 Hs | 109 Mt | 110 Ds | 111 Rg | 112 Cn | 113 Uut | 114 Uuq | 115 Uup | 116 Uuh | 117 Uus | 118 Uuo |
| * Lanthanides (Lanthanoids) | 57 La | 58 Ce | 59 Pr | 60 Nd | 61 Pm | 62 Sm | 63 Eu | 64 Gd | 65 Tb | 66 Dy | 67 Ho | 68 Er | 69 Tm | 70 Yb | 71 Lu | |||
| ** Actinides (Actinoids) | 89 Ac | 90 Th | 91 Pa | 92 U | 93 Np | 94 Pu | 95 Am | 96 Cm | 97 Bk | 98 Cf | 99 Es | 100 Fm | 101 Md | 102 No | 103 Lr | |||
Because of the importance of the outermost electron shell, the different regions of the periodic table are sometimes referred to as periodic table blocks, named according to the subshell in which the "last" electron resides. The s-block comprises the first two groups (alkali metals and alkaline earth metals) as well as hydrogen and helium. The p-block comprises the last six groups which are groups 13 through 18 in IUPAC (3A through 8A in American) and contains, among others, all of the semimetals. The d-block comprises groups 3 through 12 in IUPAC (or 3B through 8B in American group numbering) and contains all of the transition metals. The f-block, usually offset below the rest of the periodic table, comprises the lanthanides and actinides.