00WHAT THE CHEMISTRY SAYS

Everything is made
of something.

A hand resting on a wooden kitchen table beside a glass of water, a small dish of salt, sugar cubes and a phone lying face down — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

A short list builds a long world.

Water, table salt, sugar, your own body and the phone in your pocket are all made from chemical elements. Some need just two. A phone needs dozens.

118elements, one tableUpdated 16 October 2026

Pick a thing

01Principles

Water is two elements
You are mostly four
Phones need dozens
The ingredients of everything

02THE SHORT ANSWER

A few elements
do most of the work.

An element is a pure substance that ordinary chemistry
cannot break down. Everything else is built from them.

YOU

Mostly four elements

Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen make up about 97% of your body's weight, a Vanderbilt University chemist told Live Science.

Pick a thing

THE KITCHEN

Two-element basics

Water is hydrogen and oxygen. Table salt is sodium chloride: sodium and chlorine joined together.

Spot them at home

YOUR PHONE

A pocket of metals

The NSW Government says the average mobile phone contains over 25 metals sourced from mineral deposits.

See the numbers

03A QUICK ELEMENT CHECK

What is it
made of?

Pick an everyday thing to see which elements build it. The bar shows how many different elements it needs.

Based on OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology, Action on Salt, Live Science and the NSW Government periodic table of mobile phones.

Element check

Choose a thingA glass of waterTable saltGlucose sugarYour bodyA mobile phone

A glass of water2 elements

Hydrogen and oxygen. Two hydrogen atoms share electrons with one oxygen atom to make each molecule of H2O.

Table salt2 elements

Table salt is also known as sodium chloride: the elements sodium and chlorine, bonded together.

Glucose sugar3 elements

Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, always in the same ratio: six carbon and six oxygen units for every twelve hydrogen units.

Your body4 do most

Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen make up about 97% of body weight. Calcium, sodium and others make up the rest.

A mobile phone25+ metals

The average phone contains over 25 metals, from lithium and cobalt to tin, indium and rare earth elements.

Sources: OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e (water, glucose); Action on Salt (sodium chloride); Live Science interview with chemist Steven Townsend (body); NSW Government, The periodic table of mobile phones (phone).

04TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

A short list
for a whole body.

One figure on you,
one on the phone in your pocket.

≈ 97%

Body weight from just four elements

Oxygen alone is 65% to 67% of body weight, mostly as the O in water. Carbon is around 18% to 19%, hydrogen 9% to 10% and nitrogen around 3%.

YOUR BODY · LIVE SCIENCE

25+ metals

Metals in an average mobile phone

The New South Wales Government's periodic table of mobile phones says the average phone contains over 25 metals sourced from mineral deposits.

YOUR PHONE · NSW GOVERNMENT

IUPAC approved names for elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 on 28 November 2016, completing the seventh row of the periodic table. OpenStax counts 92 elements found in nature.

05FOUR THINGS TO SPOT

Find the elements
around the house.

No lab needed. A periodic table, a kitchen cupboard and an old phone in a drawer are enough to start.

Start with the tap
Every glass of water is hydrogen and oxygen: two hydrogen atoms for each oxygen atom.
Open the salt
Table salt is sodium chloride. Find sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) on the periodic table.
Look for symbols
IUPAC publishes the periodic table as a free PDF. Each element has a one- or two-letter symbol, like Ca for calcium.
Check the drawer
An old phone still holds its metals, from lithium to tin. Hand it on for reuse or recycling rather than leaving it in a drawer.

The opened back of an old mobile phone on a workbench, showing its green circuit board, battery and small metal parts — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

06HYDROGEN'S PUZZLE

The most atoms,
not the most weight.

Close-up of coarse white salt crystals in a small ceramic dish, with a pinch of salt held between finger and thumb — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

There are more hydrogen atoms in your body than atoms of any other element, yet hydrogen is only 9% to 10% of body mass.

The reason is weight per atom: oxygen and carbon atoms weigh nearly 16 and 12 times as much as a hydrogen atom. It takes 16 hydrogen atoms to match the mass of one oxygen atom.

07Questions

Questions people ask

What is a chemical element?

A pure substance that cannot be created or broken down by ordinary chemical means. Elements combine to form compounds, such as water and glucose.

How many elements are there?

The periodic table runs to element 118, oganesson. IUPAC approved the names of elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 in November 2016, completing the seventh row. OpenStax counts 92 elements found in nature.

What is the human body mostly made of?

By weight, mostly oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, together about 97%. Oxygen leads because the body is around 50% to 60% water.

Where is the calcium in my body?

Calcium makes up about 1% to 2% of body mass, and more than 99% of it is in the bones and teeth, according to the US National Institutes of Health as cited by Live Science.

Why does a phone need so many metals?

Different parts do different jobs: the battery, screen, circuit board and speaker each use different materials. The NSW Government says an average phone contains over 25 metals.

08Sources

Everything is made
of something.