Hydrogen, food of the sun;
Of electrons has only one.
In its diatom state,
of two Dalton weight;
Over ten million liters per ton.

Helium's a most noble gas;
And breathing it's really a blast.
It makes the voice squeak,
as past larynx it leaks.
Due to such a low nuclear mass.

Lithium's an alkali metal;
At charge one: prefers it to settle.
With organics reacts,
hard working, not lax.
Of notable synthetic fettle.

For A-mino acid creation;
Nitrogen's a critical ration.
Its conversion and fate
from the gaseous state.
Is the topic of microbe fixation.

Of this substance there's clearly no dearth;
Carbon's matter of infinite worth.
With concatenation,
for nature's creation.
Tis the basis for life here on earth.

Fluorine's a lascivious gent;
Always seeking electrons for rent,
Without inhibition,
or periodic position.
A substance of promiscuous bent.

Sodium shows its clear worth;
In a remarkable act of rebirth.
Its electron goes soaring,
combining with chlorine.
Becoming the salt of the earth.

When it's Cesium, please don't forget;
With water the stage has been set.
For fire and flashin'
an explosive reaction.
So don't let the metal get wet.

Awash in the dirt and the dust,
Lies Iron, the element just,
Awaiting the smelter,
'til again, helter-skelter,
It returns to the dust as just rust.

Gold! the covet of kings,
The metal of bracelets and rings.
Been worshipped, been sought,
been stolen, been bought.
Yet so little happiness brings.

Adorning the limbs of a dancer,
Is only a part of the answer.
For Platinum's beauty,
lies also in duty.
When used for the treatment of cancer.

Strontium salts you may know,
Into pyrotechnics they go.
For when added to same
they cause the bright flame
to burn with a rose-colored glow.

No Neon. 'twould be a great pity.
Art deco without its bright pretty?
For in ionized state,
doth the plasma create
the bright-colored lights of the city.

Silicon is what you would choose.
To make glue for things that are loose,
To make glass or Earth's crust 
or to augment a bust 
An element of much-varied use.

With a mass of One-two-six-point-nine,
is the halogen named Iodine.
For cleaning a cut
a tincture is just
What we'd make with this solid sublime.

Present in the fruit of banan'
Potassium's part of the plan.
It's lost as one sweats
And we've learned that it's
An element essential to man.

Calcium, from milk, we enthrone
For preserving a great body tone
Keeping us whole
fulfilling its role
Of building strong tooth and stout bone.

Lo Sulfur, the devil's own.
Burns with a stench long well known.
Its sulfurous smoke
doth blind and doth choke
The essence of hell and brimstone.

Pull Beryllium down from its shelf.
Into nuclear chemistry delve.
For when alpha bombarded,
a neutron's imparted
Along with the atom C-12.

Chromium's just the right thing
to use when making a spring.
For it imparts to steel
that great sproingy feel
Giving F=kX with Zing!

One-eight-six grams per cubic inch
To petrol we'd add a small pinch
Cause Lead's just the thing
To stop engine ping
When used to make pipe its a cinch.


Plutonium's infamous function
Is nuclear weapon construction
A terrible thing
this utility brings
The threat of our planet's destruction

There once was an element, Zinc
Which spent life in a galvanized sink
Its salts formed a coating
to stop the corroding
A wonderful job; don't you think

Boron yields boranes so fine
For eclectic, synthetic design
Thus Herbert C. Brown
Gained worldwide renown
And the Nobel back in seventy-nine

Minus two-seven-two-point-four
Just knockin' at Kelvin's death door
Americium conducts
in a manner deluxe
That's 'SUPER', not good, fair or poor.

To make all dark places bright
And replace night's blindness with sight
a thin Tungsten wire
and electronic fire
Yields Edison's incandescent light

Vanadium makes for strong steel
For a spring or axle for wheel
That can weather the strain
suffered by parts on a train
For such purpose, this metal's ideal

>From Greek, meaning 'hard to get'
Is the name of a substance quite rare yet
Magnetic when cold
Expensive when sold
Dysprosium's a pretty good bet.

A vapor that's ghoulish and green
Describes diatomic Chlorine
This poisonous stuff
makes breathing quite rough
But keeps water sparkling and clean

Argon's no casual flirt
So it's usually considered inert
Eschewing reaction
or bonding attraction
In its octo-electronic skirt.

Oxygen's a need we all share
We're so very glad that it's there
Meeting our need
Combusting our feed
At twenty percent of the air.

Whether in plane or auto or boat
Over bearings the oil will float
Saving on wear
saving on tear
When Indium's applied in thin coat.

For environments prone to corrode
Or for jewel-like beauty bestowed
Iridium's stuff
makes it pretty but tough
resisting the urge to erode

The element known as Nobelium
Has quite a tale, or so they tell me...ummmm
Though Sweden laid claim
'Twas Berkeley won fame
For the union of carbon and curium

For a metal that's both light and strong
With Aluminum you can't go far wrong
Anodization
Controlled oxidation
keeps the bright shiny look lasting long

Magnesium has quite a nice flare
For burning in water or air
With a flame that's so bright
It will light up the night
As a signal advising "beware"

'Cause atomic structures the same
Two polymorphs share the same name
The morph that is white
will spontaneously ignite
As Phosphorus bursts into flame

Newly minted so shiny and bright
A Copper pence is a ..... sight
as the lustrous sheen
is replaced by green
from the oxide...

A non-metal though it may be
It posesses an odd property
for Selenium conducts
in a photonic flux
Generating electricity

Its octet has got a full eight
Thus sealing Krypton's lonely fate
to remain all alone
never sharing its home
In an eternally singular state

Linking uranium and actinide decays
its name is a mouthful to say
Protactinium
decays to become
actinium, as it emits alpha rays

While examining the mineral pitchblende
the Curie's, an new element did befriend
Eighteen-ninety-eight
the discovery date
For Polonium, which becomes lead in the end

Its name is derived from greek
meaning green, as green as a leek
Praseodymium
yields salts that become
ceramic glazes so rare and unique

The point at which Rhenium melts
is a temperature not often felt
so its used to make wire
that'll withstand the fire
that in specialty instruments is dealt

Ruthenium's brittle and hard
So against excess wear it will guard
with platinum alloyed
erosion to avoid
in aircraft magnetos it starred


For mirrors or jewelry so fine
You want a reflection divine
it just the right thing
to plate on a ring
Rhodium gives it that shine


Throughout the earth Rubidium's found
Oftimes with lithium bound
a photocell to make
or for catalysis sake
An industrial metal renowned


Watchdials that glow in the dark
Required neither flame nor a spark
For Radium's cold light
broke thru the night
And 'lumined time on the mark