What Is an Element in Chemistry? - ThoughtCo A chemical element is a substance that cannot be further broken down by any chemical reaction Each element has a unique number of protons in its atom For example, a hydrogen atom has 1 proton, while a carbon atom has 6 protons Varying the number of electrons in an atom of an element produces ions Changing the number of neutrons produces
What Are the First 20 Elements? - Names and Symbols - ThoughtCo One common chemistry assignment is to name or even memorize the first 20 elements and their symbols The elements are ordered in the periodic table according to increasing atomic number This is also the number of protons in each atom
Chemical Element Pictures - Photo Gallery - ThoughtCo This gallery shows what chemical elements look like before they form compounds with other elements The elements are shown in the order they appear on the periodic table, starting with hydrogen Some rare elements don't have pictures because they're highly radioactive and vanish quickly after creation