丁烯

dīngxī

noun

Meanings

1 butene
2 butylene (C₄H₈, an alkene used in plastics manufacturing)

Characters

fourth heavenly stem (= 4 carbons in chemistry)

alkene (organic compound suffix, with C=C bond)

Examples

HSK 7-9

丁烯是生产合成橡胶的重要原料。

Dīngxī shì shēngchǎn héchéng xiàngjiāo de zhòngyào yuánliào.

Butene is an important raw material for producing synthetic rubber.

HSK 7-9

这家化工厂主要生产乙烯和丁烯。

Zhè jiā huàgōngchǎng zhǔyào shēngchǎn yǐxī hé dīngxī.

This chemical plant mainly produces ethylene and butene.

Tips

memory

Chinese organic chemistry uses heavenly stems for carbon counts: 甲 (1C methane), 乙 (2C ethane), 丙 (3C propane), 丁 (4C butane). 烯 marks alkenes (with C=C double bond). So 丁烯 = "4-carbon alkene" = butene. Once you learn the system, the names self-decode: 乙烯 ethylene, 丙烯 propylene, 戊烯 pentene…

Stroke Order

丁 dīng

烯 xī