How to Write 镉 (gé) — Meaning “Cadmium”

Imagine a metal pot (钅) that looks like a tall, three-legged vessel (鬲) used to cook a toxic metal called cadmium. Associate the sound "gé" with "get" — as in "get cadmium from the pot" to help recall both the pronunciation and the meaning.

Write the left radical 钅 first with 5 strokes: a short left-falling stroke, then three horizontal lines, and finally a vertical line ending with a rising hook. The right part 鬲 has 10 strokes; pay attention to the top horizontal line and the inner hooks — a common mistake is to make the bottom too wide. Keep the left side narrow and the right side slightly wider.

The main difference is the right side: 镉 uses 鬲 (a vessel shape), 锗 uses 者 (zhě, meaning "person"), and 锖 uses 青 (qīng, meaning "blue/green"). Also, their meanings differ: 镉 is the element cadmium, 锗 is the element germanium, and 锖 refers to a type of tarnish or a color (often in technical terms).

镉 appears mostly in scientific and industrial contexts, such as in 镉电池 (cadmium battery) and 镉中毒 (cadmium poisoning). It is not a common character in daily life and is not included in the HSK vocabulary list. Culturally, it is associated with environmental pollution concerns because cadmium is toxic and found in discarded batteries.

Common words containing 镉 include: 镉电池 (gé diàn chí) — Cadmium battery; 镉中毒 (gé zhòng dú) — Cadmium poisoning; 镉元素 (gé yuán sù) — Cadmium (element).