Chemistry Crosswords Printable

Print a chemistry vocabulary crossword clued by definition, from atoms and bonds to acids, bases and lab glassware.

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Chemistry Crossword

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Answer key: Chemistry Crossword

1RU2STO3FLASKUU4BRINEN5M6ATTERLLLO7Y8IEL9DO10ATOMNT11CLAMP

Across 1 RUST · 3 FLASK · 4 BRINE · 5 MATTER · 7 YIELD · 10 ATOM · 11 CLAMP

Down 2 SOUR · 3 FUNNEL · 6 ALLOY · 8 ION · 9 DATA

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Atoms and Elements 29

  • Alkali ___ metals: the soft, reactive first column, including sodium
  • Anion Negatively charged particle such as Cl-, made when atoms gain electrons
  • Atom Smallest bit of gold that is still gold
  • Atomic ___ number: the count of protons
  • Cation Positively charged particle such as Na+, made when atoms lose electrons
  • Electron Almost weightless particle that carries a negative charge around the core of atoms
  • Element One of the 118 basic building materials of everything, such as gold or oxygen
  • Group Vertical column of the chart of elements
  • Halogen Family of elements in column 17, including chlorine and iodine
  • Ion What atoms turn into when they gain or lose electrons
  • Isotope Carbon has several: forms with the same count of protons but different counts of neutrons
  • Lattice Regular 3-D grid in which the particles of crystals are arranged
  • Mass Amount of stuff in an object; for atoms, mostly their protons plus neutrons
  • Matter Anything that takes up room and can be weighed; all of chemistry studies it
  • Metal Shiny material that conducts electricity well, such as copper
  • Metalloid Silicon or boron, for example: sharing traits of two bigger families of elements
  • Neutron Particle that adds weight to atoms but carries no charge
  • Noble ___ gases: helium, neon and the rest of the last column, which rarely react
  • Nonmetal Elements such as sulfur and oxygen that do not conduct electricity well
  • Nucleus Tiny, heavy heart of atoms, where the protons and neutrons sit
  • Orbital Cloud-shaped zone around the core of atoms where electrons spend their time
  • Period Horizontal row of the chart of elements
  • Periodic ___ table: the chart of all 118 known elements
  • Proton Positively charged particle in the core of atoms
  • Radioactive Describes atoms whose unstable cores break down and give off radiation
  • Shell Level around the core of atoms where electrons are found
  • Subatomic Smaller than atoms, like protons and electrons
  • Symbol One or two letters that stand for elements, such as Fe for iron
  • Valence Word for the outer-level electrons that atoms share or trade

Bonds and Reactions 35

  • Balance Make the atoms on the left of the arrow match the atoms on the right
  • Bond Pull that keeps atoms joined to one another
  • Burn Combine quickly with oxygen and give off flame
  • Catalyst Helper that makes a slow change go fast and comes out unchanged itself
  • Coefficient Big number written in front, as the first 2 in 2H2O
  • Combustion Burning: a fast change with oxygen that gives off light and warmth
  • Compound Water or table sugar, for example: different elements locked together in a fixed recipe
  • Corrode Slowly eat away, as salty water does to a steel hull
  • Covalent Describes the link made when atoms share electrons instead of trading them
  • Decompose Break down into simpler substances
  • Electrolysis Splitting a substance by passing an electric current through it
  • Endothermic Describes a change that takes in warmth, as an instant cold pack does
  • Energy Every chemical change either takes it in or gives it off
  • Enzyme Protein that living cells use to speed up their chemistry
  • Equation Line of formulas and an arrow that shows what changes into what
  • Equilibrium State in which the forward and backward changes go at equal speed
  • Exothermic Describes a change that gives off warmth, like a burning candle
  • Ferment What yeast does to sugar in bread dough, giving off carbon dioxide
  • Formula H2O or NaCl, for example: shorthand for what a substance is made of
  • Ionic Describes bonding in which electrons are handed from one partner to the other
  • Mole Counting unit of chemistry, about 6.02 x 10^23 particles
  • Molecule O2 or H2O, for example: atoms linked into one unit
  • Monomer One of the small units that link up to form a long chain
  • Oxidation Loss of electrons, the kind of change that rusts iron
  • Polymer Long chain of many repeating units, such as a plastic or starch
  • Precipitate Solid that forms and falls out when two solutions react
  • Product Something you end with: it sits after the arrow
  • Rate How fast a chemical change goes
  • Reactant Something you start with: it sits before the arrow and gets used up
  • Reaction Process in which substances change into new substances
  • Reduction Gain of electrons, the partner of losing them
  • Rust Flaky red-brown coat that forms on iron left out in damp air
  • Subscript Small lowered number, as the 2 in H2O
  • Synthesis A + B makes AB: building one substance out of simpler ones
  • Yield How much a chemical change actually makes, often given as a percent

Solutions, Acids and Bases 38

  • Acid Substance with a pH below 7; the one in lemons tastes sharp
  • Alkaline Another word for basic: having a pH above 7
  • Alloy Blend of metals, such as bronze or brass
  • Ammonia Sharp-smelling cleaner ingredient, NH3, that is basic in water
  • Aqueous Dissolved in water, shown by the label (aq)
  • Base Substance with a pH above 7; many feel slippery
  • Bitter Taste that many bases share with unsweetened cocoa
  • Brine Water so loaded with sodium chloride that pickles are kept in it
  • Buffer Blend that resists a change in pH when small amounts of acids or bases are added
  • Colloid Milk, fog or whipped cream, for example: bits too small to sink, too big to vanish
  • Concentrated Strong: holding a lot of dissolved substance in little water
  • Corrosive Able to eat away at other materials, as strong acids and bases are
  • Crystal Flat-faced solid that grows as sugary water slowly dries out
  • Dilute Weak; or to thin a mix by adding more water
  • Dissolve Seem to vanish into a liquid, as a spoonful of sugar does when stirred
  • Distill Purify a liquid by boiling it and collecting the vapor as it cools
  • Emulsion Mix of two liquids that do not normally blend, like mayonnaise
  • Filter Cone of paper that catches the grit and lets the clear liquid drip through
  • Homogeneous The same all the way through, as sugar water is
  • Hydrogen Lightest of all the elements; acids release its charged form, H+, in water
  • Hydroxide OH-, the charged pair that bases release in water
  • Indicator Dye that changes color to show whether something is acidic or basic
  • Litmus Paper that acids turn red and bases turn blue
  • Mixture Trail mix or salad, for example: things put together that can be picked apart again
  • Molarity Concentration counted in moles per liter
  • Neutral Neither acidic nor basic, like pure water at pH 7
  • Residue What is left in the dish after the water has dried away
  • Salt Sodium chloride on the table; also what acids and bases make together
  • Saturated Holding as much dissolved substance as it can
  • Soap Slippery cleaner made by treating fats with lye
  • Soluble Able to be dissolved
  • Solute In sweet tea, the sugar: the part that disappears into the liquid
  • Solution Sugar water, for example: one substance spread so evenly through another that it looks like one
  • Solvent The liquid part of a mix, the one that the other part vanishes into
  • Sour Taste of lemon juice and other acids
  • Suspension Cloudy mix whose bits settle if left to stand, like muddy water
  • Titration Lab method of adding a liquid drop by drop until the color changes, to find a concentration
  • Vinegar Tart kitchen liquid with a pH of about 2 to 3

In the Lab 31

  • Apron It covers your clothes while you work with chemicals
  • Beaker Glass cup with straight sides and a spout, marked in milliliters
  • Burette Tall marked glass tube with a tap at its foot for letting liquid out slowly
  • Burner It gives the flame for heating in a school laboratory
  • Chemist Scientist who studies substances and how they change
  • Clamp Grip on a stand that holds glassware in place
  • Crucible Small cup that can stand very strong heating
  • Cylinder Graduated ___: tall, narrow glass with lines for reading how much liquid
  • Data Numbers and facts written in a results table
  • Dropper Squeeze-bulb tool that gives out liquid one bead at a time
  • Experiment Test run on purpose to find out what happens
  • Flask Cone-shaped glass bottle whose narrow neck keeps swirled liquid from splashing out
  • Funnel Wide at the top, narrow at the bottom: it keeps a pour from spilling
  • Gloves Hand protection for handling chemicals
  • Goggles They seal around the eyes to keep splashes out
  • Hazard Danger; a warning sign on a bottle points one out
  • Hood Fume ___: vented cabinet that carries harmful fumes away from your face
  • Measure Find out how long, how heavy or how much, in units
  • Meniscus The dip in the top of water inside a glass tube: read the bottom of it
  • Mortar Thick-walled bowl for crushing lumps to powder
  • Observe Use your senses, mostly your eyes, to gather facts
  • Pipette Narrow tube that sucks up and lets out an exact, small amount of liquid
  • Sample Small amount taken for testing
  • Scale Tool that weighs out a few grams of a powder
  • Spatula Small flat scoop for lifting powders
  • Stir Mix with a glass rod
  • Stopper Rubber plug for the mouth of a bottle
  • Test tube Finger-shaped glass container that stands in a rack
  • Thermometer Tool that reads how hot a liquid is, in degrees
  • Tongs Grippers for picking up hot glassware
  • Tripod Its three legs straddle the flame and carry the gauze that glassware sits on

How this list was compiled: Clues written for this site for middle school physical science and a first high school chemistry course, in four sets: atoms and elements, bonds and reactions, solutions with acids and bases, and the lab. Each clue is a definition, checked against English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA 4.0) in October 2026. Spellings are American. No element is an answer except Hydrogen, and no clue was copied from a published puzzle. Licence: own work

How it works

These chemistry crosswords, printable on Letter or A4, are criss-cross vocabulary puzzles clued by definition. The page opens on 12 first words such as Atom, Acid and Flask; four unit sets follow the course from atoms to solutions.

Read the full guide

Four units

Atoms and Elements covers the particles and the chart: Proton, Isotope, Valence, Halogen. Bonds and Reactions has Covalent, Catalyst, Oxidation and Equilibrium. Solutions, Acids and Bases runs from Solute and Solvent to Litmus, Buffer and Titration. In the Lab names the glassware and the habits: Beaker, Burette, Meniscus, Observe.

Clues to work out

Some clues are read, not recalled: the first 2 in 2H2O is a Coefficient, the small 2 is a Subscript, and OH- is Hydroxide. A periodic table on the desk helps with Period, Group and Noble.

  • First Chemistry Words keeps to short answers such as Mole, Rust and Salt, which suits the first week of a course.

Questions and answers

Is this chemistry crossword printable free of charge?

Yes, with no sign-up and no limit on copies. Each press of New puzzle draws another grid from the same clue set, so two classes need not get the same sheet.

What grade level are the chemistry crosswords?

First Chemistry Words suits middle school physical science. The four unit sets follow a first high school course, with words such as Molarity, Endothermic and Electrolysis. These bands are our judgement, not a published standard.

Do the chemistry crosswords come with answers?

Yes. The answer key prints last, on a sheet of its own. Show all clues and answers, under the puzzle, lists the whole bank.

How is this different from the periodic table crossword?

The periodic table crossword clues each element by its symbol and atomic number. Here Hydrogen is the only element among the answers; the clues define the ideas, such as Isotope, Ion and Valence.

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