How to Write 铥 (diū) — Meaning “Thulium (chemical element)”

Imagine you "丢" (throw away) a piece of rare metal because it's thulium, which is so obscure that you might accidentally discard it. The structure 钅+丢 visually suggests a metal that is "lost" — think of a shiny lump of thulium you carelessly drop.

Write the left radical 钅 first: left-falling, horizontal, horizontal, vertical, horizontal hook. Then the right side 丢: left-falling, horizontal, horizontal, vertical, and finally a dot at the bottom right. A common mistake is confusing the right side with 去 (qù); remember that 丢 has a dot under the vertical stroke, while 去 does not.

All three have the metal radical 钅, but the right side differs: 钙 uses 丐 (gài) for calcium, 钚 uses 不 (bù) for plutonium, and 铥 uses 丢 (diū) for thulium. Visually, 铥's right side is the most complex, with an extra dot at the bottom, while 钙 and 钚 have simpler shapes.

铥 is almost exclusively used in scientific and chemical contexts, such as in the periodic table, chemical formulas, or discussions of rare earth metals. It has no common everyday use or cultural significance; learners mainly encounter it in chemistry textbooks or materials about lanthanides.

Common words containing 铥 include: 铥元素 (diū yuán sù) — The element Thulium; 金属铥 (jīn shǔ diū) — Thulium metal; 氧化铥 (yǎng huà diū) — Thulium oxide.