How to Write 钇 (yǐ) — Meaning “Yttrium (chemical element)”

Imagine that 钇 (yǐ) looks like a metal bar (钅) with a small 'Y' shape (乙) attached to it. Think of 'Y' for 'Yttrium' — the element's symbol is Y, so the right side reminds you of the letter Y.

The radical 钅 must be written with five strokes in the order: left-falling stroke, horizontal, horizontal, vertical-falling, and finally the hook. The right part 乙 is a single stroke: horizontal, then a curved downward turn. A common mistake is making the 乙 part too wide or forgetting the hook on the metal radical.

钅 is just the metal radical, not a full character with its own meaning. 钆 (gá) is another metal element (gadolinium) with the same radical but a different right component (乚). While 钇 uses 乙 on the right, 钆 uses a slightly different hook shape (乚).

钇 appears mainly in scientific and industrial contexts, such as in the names of compounds like 氧化钇 (yttrium oxide) used in lasers and phosphors. It is not a common character in daily life and is mostly found in chemistry textbooks or materials science articles.

Common words containing 钇 include: 钇元素 (yǐ yuán sù) — Yttrium element; 金属钇 (jīn shǔ yǐ) — Yttrium metal; 氧化钇 (yǎng huà yǐ) — Yttrium oxide.