Period 1 element lithium and fluorine (appearing twice), or left floating above the other elements and not assigned to any group in the periodic table. Helium is almost always placed above neon (which is in the p-block) in the periodic table as a noble gas, although it is occasionally placed above beryllium due to their similar electron configuration. Hydrogen (H) is the chemical element with atomic number 1. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, nonmetallic, tasteless, highly flammable diatomic gas with the molecular formula H. With an atomic mass of 1.00794 amu, hydrogen is the lightest element. Hydrogen is
Period (periodic table) total of 118 elements have been discovered and confirmed. Modern quantum mechanics explains these periodic trends in properties in terms of electron shells. As atomic number increases, shells fill with electrons in approximately the order shown at right. The filling of each shell corresponds to a row in the table. In the s-block and p-block of the periodic table, elements within the same period generally do not exhibit trends and similarities in properties (vertical trends down groups are more significant). However, in the d-block, trends across periods become significant, and in the f-block elements show a high degree of similarity