Element Symbols
Match elements to their symbols in a free, timed browser game. Au, Ag, Fe, Pb — and why they do not match the English names.
ScienceSI Units
Every SI unit is named after a person, which makes them unusually easy to learn once you spot the pattern. Below: which name goes with which quantity, and the two that are always swapped.
Choose your difficulty
Pick a level to start playing. You can switch at any time.
How to play
Read the quantity, then tap its SI unit.
Tip: your progress and best score are saved in this browser only.
Related games
Atomic Numbers
Match elements to their atomic number in a free, timed browser game. Hydrogen is 1, gold is 79, uranium is 92.
ScienceType the Symbol
Type the chemical symbol for each element, in a free timed browser game. Au, Ag, Pb — recall it and type it.
ScienceBody Systems
Match body systems and organs to what they do in a free timed browser game. Circulatory, respiratory, digestive and more.
ScienceSpace Objects
Match astronomical objects to what they are in a free timed browser game. Comet, nebula, neutron star, black hole and more.
ScienceWhat you are actually practicing
Every SI base unit is named after a person, and so are most of the derived ones: the newton for force, the joule for energy, the watt for power, the pascal for pressure. Once you know that the names are people, the list becomes a set of famous scientists rather than a set of random words.
There is a second layer too: each unit belongs to a quantity, and knowing that is most of the game.
How the game works
You are shown a physical quantity and four unit names. Pick the right one. A wrong pick reveals it immediately.
Easy uses the units everyone meets. Medium widens the set. Hard uses the full list, including the pairs that get swapped under time pressure.
The units worth knowing
Base units: metre (length), kilogram (mass), second (time), ampere (current), kelvin (temperature), mole (amount of substance), candela (light).
Derived, named after people: newton (force), joule (energy), watt (power), pascal (pressure), hertz (frequency), coulomb (electric charge).
The two that get swapped: the joule measures energy and the newton measures force. They are easy to mix up because power is watts per second and work is newton-metres.
Strategies that actually raise your score
Match the person to the quantity. Newton studied motion, so he gets force. Joule studied heat, so he gets energy. Watt improved the steam engine, so he gets power.
Use the base units as anchors. Force is newtons, and a newton is one kilogram times one metre per second squared — once you can say that, you can rebuild any derived unit.
Reject the near-synonym. If the quantity is power and one option is joule, joule is wrong even though both are "about energy per unit time" in vague terms.
Remember the two un-named ones. The hertz and the watt are the only common SI units not named after a person, and they are named after people anyway — Hertz and Watt. That is the useful part.