三元

sānyuán

noun #91,883

Meanings

1 ternary; three-element (of a battery cathode)
2 with three unknowns (of equations)
3 first place at all three levels of the imperial examinations

Characters

element; unknown; first

Examples

HSK 7-9

这款电动车用的是三元电池，续航比较长。

Zhè kuǎn diàndòngchē yòng de shì sānyuán diànchí, xùháng bǐjiào cháng.

This electric car uses a ternary battery, so its range is fairly long.

HSK 7-9

题目里有三个未知数，可以列一个三元方程组来解。

Tímù lǐ yǒu sān ge wèizhīshù, kěyǐ liè yí ge sānyuán fāngchéngzǔ lái jiě.

The problem has three unknowns, so you can set up a system of equations in three unknowns to solve it.

HSK 7-9

商辂在乡试、会试、殿试中都考了第一，是明朝少有的三元。

Shāng Lù zài xiāngshì, huìshì, diànshì zhōng dōu kǎo le dìyī, shì Míngcháo shǎoyǒu de sānyuán.

Shang Lu came first in the provincial, metropolitan and palace exams, one of the Ming dynasty's rare triple firsts.

Tips

history

元 means first here. Topping the provincial exam made a man 解元, the metropolitan exam 会元, the palace exam 状元; winning all three, 连中三元, was managed by fewer than twenty men in 1,300 years of exams. Lanes and arches named 三元 honour such men.

usage

In electric-car talk 三元 is a nickel-cobalt-manganese or nickel-cobalt-aluminium cathode, the main rival of 磷酸铁锂 (LFP): more range, less tolerance of heat. In algebra 元 is an unknown: 二元 means two unknowns.

Stroke Order

三 sān

元 yuán