Diatomic Elements

A worksheet to help pupils memorize the elements that naturally occur in a diatomic state. This pack consists of a page explaining the existence of diatomic elements, a worksheet to practice identifying and using them and a reference sheet with the elements highlighted on a periodic table to stick into exercise books.

Over time, I have noticed that many pupils don’t really learn which elements are diatomic and are simply expected to pick these up through encountering them in other topics.

This ad hoc approach is fine for frequently used elements such as oxygen, however it tends to leave gaps in their knowledge when it comes to less frequently encountered elements such as nitrogen. Of course this leads to problems when it comes to balancing equations. Even more problematic is when the time comes to calculate moles and amounts in more difficult questions.

Putting these together in one place and spending a portion of a lesson solely dedicated to this topic has been very helpful for pupils. Once they learn where to look on the periodic table and how to find what they’re looking for, their confidence in dealing with chemical equations increases.