How to Write 镤 (pú) — Meaning “protactinium (element)”

Picture a 'pudding' (sounds like pú) made of shiny metal (钅), representing the rare element protactinium. You can also think of 'Pu' as the chemical symbol for plutonium, but remember 镤 is for protactinium — just swap the mental link to 'protactinium pudding.'

The left radical 钅 has five strokes, ending with a horizontal stroke that should be slightly shorter than the top of the right part. The right part 菐 has a complex structure with a top '艹' grass radical and a bottom composed of 业 and 米 — be careful not to mix up the order of the bottom strokes. A common mistake is making the left metal radical too wide; it should occupy about one-third of the total width.

镤 (pú) means 'protactinium,' while 镆 (mò) is the character for 'moscovium' (element 115) and also appears in the name of a legendary sword. 镇 (zhèn) means 'to press down' or 'town' and is much more common, with a completely different right side (眞 vs 菐). Visually, 镤 has a grass radical on top of the right side, while 镆 has 莫 (mò) and 镇 has 眞 (zhēn).

镤 is only used in scientific contexts, specifically to name the radioactive element protactinium (atomic number 91). It appears in chemistry textbooks, research papers, and periodic table discussions, but is extremely rare in everyday language. There are no cultural or historical references to this character outside of modern chemistry, as protactinium was discovered in the 20th century and its Chinese name was created for the periodic table.

Common words containing 镤 include: 镤元素 (pú yuán sù) — the element protactinium; 镤原子 (pú yuán zi) — protactinium atom; 金属镤 (jīn shǔ pú) — Protactinium metal.