How to Write 钔 (mén) — Meaning “Mendelevium”

Think of a "metal door" — the radical 钅 means metal, and 门 means door. Imagine a heavy metal door leading to a secret laboratory where Mendelevium is made. The sound "men" in Mendelevium matches the pinyin mén.

Write the left radical 钅 first with its five strokes, then the right side 门 with three strokes, for a total of 8 strokes. A common mistake is making the hook of 钅 too large or forgetting the dot on the top left of 门. Keep both parts balanced so the character is not too wide.

钔 (mén) represents Mendelevium (element 101), while 钆 (gá) is Gadolinium (element 64) and 钇 (yǐ) is Yttrium (element 39). Visually, 钔 has 门 on the right, 钆 has a simpler 乚 (zhé) component, and 钇 has 乙 (yǐ). The radicals are the same, but the right-side parts change both pronunciation and element identity.

钔 is a specialized character used mainly in chemistry, physics, and academic contexts to name the element Mendelevium. You might see it in textbooks or articles about the periodic table, often in compounds like 钔元素 or 金属钔. It is not used in everyday conversation because Mendelevium is a synthetic element not encountered in daily life.

Common words containing 钔 include: 钔元素 (mén yuán sù) — Mendelevium element; 钔原子 (mén yuán zi) — Mendelevium atom; 金属钔 (jīn shǔ mén) — Mendelevium metal.