Many fertilisers contain a high proportion of phosphorus and are manufactured from concentrated phosphoric acids. Phosphorus is used in the manufacture of safety matches, pyrotechnics and incendiary shells. Phosphorus is also used in steel manufacture and in the production of phosphor bronze.

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Sulfur's main commercial use is as a reactant in the production of sulfuric acid. Sulfur is a component of black gunpowder, and is used in the vulcanization of natural rubber and a fungicide. It is used to make sulfite paper and other papers, to fumigate, and to bleach dried fruits. It is also used extensively in making phosphatic fertilizers.

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Chlorine is used for producing safe drinking water. It is also extensively used in the production of paper products, dyestuffs, textiles, petroleum products, medicines, antiseptics, insecticides, food, solvents, paints, plastics, and many other consumer products. Chlorinated compounds are used mostly for sanitation, pulp bleaching, disinfectants, and textile processing.

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Argon gas is used to fill conventional incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs. Argon is also used as an inert gas shield for arc welding and cutting, as blanket for the production of titanium and other reactive elements. It is used as a protective atmosphere for growing silicon and germanium crystals.

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The greatest demand for potash has been in its use for fertilizers. Potassium is an essential constituent for plant growth and is found in most soils. Potassium nitrate is the main explosive ingredient in gunpowder. Potassium hydroxide is used in the manufacture of soft soaps and as an electrolyte in alkaline batteries.

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Calcium is used to remove oxygen, sulfur and carbon from alloys. It is also used as an alloying agent used in the production of aluminium, beryllium, copper, lead, and magnesium alloys. Calcium is used as a reducing agent in the extraction of other metals, such as uranium, zirconium, and thorium. Calcium carbonate is used in manufacturing cement and mortar, lime and limestone.

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Scandium is used in sports equipment such as golf iron shafts, baseball bats, bicycle frames and fishing rods. Scandium iodide, along with sodium iodide, when added to a modified form of mercury-vapor lamp, produces a form of metal halide lamp. The radioactive isotope ⁴⁶Sc is used in oil refineries as a tracing agent.

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Titanium is used in steel as an alloying element to reduce grain size and as a deoxidizer, and in stainless steel to reduce carbon content. Titanium has potential use in desalination plants for converting sea water into fresh water. Titanium is used in several everyday products such as drill bits, bicycles, golf clubs, watches and laptop computers.

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Vanadium is used as an additive in steel to strengthen and protect against corrosion. Titanium-aluminum-vanadium alloy is used in jet engines and for high-speed aircraft. Vanadium foil is used in cladding titanium to steel. Vanadium pentoxide is used in ceramics and as a catalyst for the production of sulfuric acid.

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Chromium is used to harden steel, manufacture stainless steel, and form many useful alloys. It is mostly used in plating to produce a hard, beautiful surface and to prevent corrosion. The metal is also widely used as a catalyst. Chromium compounds are valued as pigments for their vivid green, yellow, red and orange colors.

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For over 2000 years, manganese dioxide has been used to make colorless glass. Manganese dioxide is used as the cathode material in zinc-carbon and alkaline batteries. Manganese also functions in the oxygen-evolving complex of photosynthetic plants. The dioxide is also used in the preparation of oxygen and chlorine and in drying black paints.

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Iron is used to manufacture steel and other alloys important in construction and manufacturing. Iron is a vital constituent of plant and animal life and works as an oxygen carrier in hemoglobin. Iron oxide mixed with aluminium powder can be ignited to create a thermite reaction, used in welding and purifying ores.

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Cobalt is used in the preparation of magnetic, wear-resistant and high-strength alloys. Cobalt is widely used in batteries and in electroplating. Radioactive ⁶⁰Co is used in the treatment of cancer. A solution of the chloride is used as a sympathetic ink.

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Nickel is used extensively to make coins and nickel steel for armor plates and burglar-proof vaults. Tubing made of copper-nickel alloy is extensively used in making desalination plants for converting sea water into fresh water. Nickel is also used in batteries, ceramics and magnets.

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Copper is often used for electrical wiring applications and for household plumbing applications. Copper sulfate is used as a fungicide and as an algicide in rivers, lakes and ponds. It is also used in cookware and cooking utensils. Commercially important alloys such as brass and bronze are made with copper and other metals.

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Because of its corrosion resistance, zinc is often plated to other metals in a process called galvanization. Zinc is an essential trace element for animals and plants. Large quantities of zinc are used to produce die castings, which are used extensively by the automotive, electrical, and hardware industries.

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Gallium wets glass or porcelain and forms a brilliant mirror when it is painted on glass. It is widely used in doping semiconductors and producing solid-state devices such as transistors. Low melting gallium alloys are used in some medical thermometers as non-toxic substitutes for mercury. Gallium arsenide is capable of converting electricity directly into coherent light.

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The most common use of germanium is as a semiconductor in electronics. Germanium is used in transistors and in integrated circuits. It is used as an alloying agent and as a catalyst. It is also used in infrared spectroscopes and infrared detectors.

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The toxicity of arsenic to insects, bacteria and fungi led to its use as a wood preservative and as insecticides. Arsenic is used in bronzing, pyrotechny, and for hardening and improving the sphericity of shot. Gallium arsenide is a semiconductor used in laser diodes and LEDs. Small amounts of arsenic can be used in lead alloys for ammunition.

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Selenium is used in the glass industry to decolorize glass and to make red-colored glasses and enamels. It is used as a catalyst in many chemical reactions. It is also used as a photographic toner, and as an additive to stainless steel. Selenium sulfide is used in anti-dandruff shampoos.

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Bromine is used in making fumigants, flameproofing agents, water purification compounds, dyes, medicines and sanitizers. Potassium bromide is used as a source of bromide ions for the manufacture of silver bromide for photographic film. Bromine is also used to reduce mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants.

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Krypton is used in certain photographic flash lamps for high-speed photography. Krypton-83 has application in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for imaging airways. Krypton is used as a filling gas for energy-saving fluorescent lights and as an inert filling gas in incandescent bulbs.

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Rubidium is used as a getter in vacuum tubes and as a photocell component. Rubidium compounds are sometimes used in fireworks to give them a purple color. Rubidium salts are used in glasses and ceramics. Rubidium-87 is slightly radioactive and has been used extensively in dating rocks.

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The primary use for strontium is in glass for colour television cathode ray tubes. Strontium salts are used in flares and fireworks for a crimson color. Strontium chloride is used in toothpaste for sensitive teeth. Strontium oxide is used to improve the quality of pottery glazes.

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Yttrium is often used in alloys, increasing the strength of aluminum and magnesium alloys. Yttrium is one of the elements used to make the red color in CRT televisions. It is also used as a deoxidizer for non-ferrous metals such as vanadium. Yttrium can be used in laser systems and as a catalyst for ethylene polymerization reactions.

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Zirconium is mainly used as a refractory and opacifier, although it is used in small amounts as an alloying agent for its strong resistance to corrosion. Zirconium is used as to make surgical instruments and is used in steel alloys as a hardening agent. Zirconium is also used to make superconductive magnets.

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Niobium is used in arc-welding rods for stabilized grades of stainless steel. Niobium alloys are strong and are often used in pipeline construction. The metal is used in superalloys for jet engines and heat resistant equipment. Niobium is found in many medical devices such as pacemakers.

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Molybdenum is used as glass furnace electrodes due to its high melting point. The metal is also used in nuclear energy applications and for missile and aircraft parts. Molybdenum is valuable as a catalyst in the refining of petroleum. Molybdenum is used in small quantities to harden steel and is used in many alloys.

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Technetium is used in nuclear medicine to carry out a number of medical tests, mainly relating to imaging and functional studies of internal bodily organs like bone scan. It is also used industrially for equipment calibration following its approval as a standard beta emitter. Mild carbon steels may be effectively protected by minute quantities of technetium, but this corrosion protection is limited to closed systems because of technetium's radioactivity.

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Ruthenium is used in platinum and palladium alloys to make wear-resistant electrical contacts. Ruthenium dioxide and lead and bismuth ruthenates are used in thick-film chip resistors. Fountain pen nibs are frequently tipped with alloys containing ruthenium. Ruthenium is a versatile catalyst.

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The element's major use is as one of the catalysts in the three-way catalytic converters in automobiles. Rhodium is used as an alloying agent for hardening and improving the corrosion resistance of platinum and palladium. It is also used as a filter in mammography systems because of the characteristic X-rays it produces. Rhodium is also used for jewelry and for decorations.

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The largest use of palladium is in catalytic converters in the automobile industry. Finely divided palladium is a good catalyst and is used for hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reactions. The metal is used in dentistry, watch making, and in making surgical instruments and electrical contacts.

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Silver has long been valued as a precious metal, and is used as an investment, to make ornaments, jewelry, high-value tableware, utensils, and currency coins. It is also used in electrical contacts and conductors, in mirrors and in catalysis of chemical reactions. Its compounds are used in photographic film, and dilute silver nitrate solutions and other silver compounds are used as disinfectants and microbiocides

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Cadmium is a key component in battery production. It is also is used in electroplating. Cadmium oxide is used in black and white television phosphors and in the blue and green phosphors for color television picture tubes. Cadmium is used as a barrier to control neutrons in nuclear fission.

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Indium's current primary application is to form transparent electrodes from indium tin oxide in liquid crystal displays and touchscreens. It is widely used in thin-films to form lubricated layers. It is also used for making particularly low melting point alloys, and is a component in some lead-free solders.

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Tin is used as a coating on the surface of other metals to prevent corrosion. It has long been used as a solder in the form of an alloy with lead. Tin salts sprayed onto glass are used to produce electrically conductive coatings. Tin chloride is used as a mordant in dyeing textiles and for increasing the weight of silk.

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The largest applications for metallic antimony are as alloying material for lead and tin and for lead antimony plates in lead-acid batteries. Alloying lead and tin with antimony improves the properties of the alloys which are used in solders, bullets and plain bearings. Antimony trioxide is used as a flame retardant in adhesives, plastics, rubber and textiles.

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The primary use of tellurium is in alloys, foremost in steel and copper to improve machinability. Tellurium is used as a basic ingredient in blasting caps, and is added to cast iron for chill control. It is used in vulcanizing rubber and in catalysts for petroleum cracking. Tellurium is used as a coloring agent in ceramics.

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Iodine compounds are important in organic chemistry and very useful in medicine. A solution containing potassium iodide and iodine in alcohol is used to disinfect external wounds. Silver iodide is a major ingredient to traditional photographic film. Iodine is added to table salt to prevent thyroid disease.

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Xenon is used in flash lamps and arc lamps, and in photographic flashes. Xenon is used in medicine as a general anesthetic and in medical imaging. In nuclear energy applications, xenon is used in bubble chambers, probes, and in other areas where a high molecular weight and inert nature is desirable.

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The radioactive isotope caesium-137 has a half-life of about 30 years and is used in medical applications, industrial gauges, and hydrology. Cesium is also used in photoelectric cells and as a catalyst in the hydrogenation of organic compounds. Caesium vapor thermionic generators are low-power devices that convert heat energy to electrical energy.

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Barium is used as a flashed getter in vacuum tubes to remove the last traces of gases. It is often used in barium-nickel alloys for spark plug wire. Barium sulfate is important to the petroleum industry as a drilling fluid in oil and gas wells. Barium is also used in medicine to detect abnormalities in the digestive system.

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Lanthanum is used in large quantities in batteries for hybrid automobiles. It is also used to make night vision goggles. Small amounts of lanthanum, as an additive, can be used to produce nodular cast iron. Lanthanum carbonate is used to reduce blood levels of phosphate in patients with kidney disease.

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Cerium is used in carbon-arc lighting, especially in the motion picture industry. Cerium oxide is an important component of glass polishing powders and phosphors used in screens and fluorescent lamps. Cerium compounds are also used in the manufacture of glass, both as a component and as a decolorizer.

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Praseodymium is used as an alloying agent with magnesium to create high-strength metals that are used in aircraft engines. Misch metal, used in making cigarette lighters, contains about 5% praseodymium metal. Praseodymium is used to make specialized yellow glass goggles for glass blowers and welders.

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Neodymium is used to make specialized goggles for glass blowers. Neodymium magnets appear in products such as microphones, professional loudspeakers, in-ear headphones, guitar and bass guitar pick-ups and computer hard disks. Glass containing neodymium can be used as a laser material to produce coherent light.

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Promethium is also used in atomic batteries for spacecraft and guided missiles. Promethium is also used to measure the thickness of materials by evaluating the amount of radiation from a promethium source that passes through the sample. It has possible future uses in portable X-ray sources, and as auxiliary heat or power sources for space probes and satellites.

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Samarium's main use is in samarium-cobalt alloy magnets for headphones, small motors and pickups for some electric guitars. Radioactive samarium-153 is used to kill cancer cells in the treatment of lung cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer and osteosarcoma. Samarium and its compounds are also used as catalyst and chemical reagent.

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Europium is used in the manufacture of fluorescent glass. It is also used in the anti-counterfeiting phosphors in Euro banknotes. Europium-doped plastic has been used as a laser material. Europium isotopes are good neutron absorbers and are used in nuclear reactor control rods.

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Gadolinium is used to make gadolinium yttrium garnets which have microwave applications. It is also used in intravenous radiocontrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Gadolinium compounds are used for making green phosphors for colour TV tubes, and in manufacturing compact discs.

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