How Many Elements Are on the Periodic Table?

Picture this: you walk into your chemistry exam and glance up at the periodic table poster on the wall. You know you have seen it hundreds of times. But a multiple-choice question asks you how many elements are currently confirmed -- and for a second, your mind goes blank. Is it 116? 117? You have a vague sense the answer is somewhere in that range, but you are not certain.

Knowing exactly how many elements are on the periodic table -- and understanding what that number actually means -- is the kind of foundational knowledge that pays dividends across chemistry exams from middle school through AP Chemistry, SAT Subject Tests, O-Levels, and A-Levels. At HYE Tutors, we have guided students through general chemistry and AP Chem for over a decade, and questions about the periodic table structure appear on virtually every major science assessment we have helped students prepare for.

In this guide, you will get the precise answer, a breakdown of how the 118 elements are organized, which ones matter most for your exams, and exam-day strategies from tutors who have reviewed hundreds of chemistry papers. Let's start with the number.