乙烯 (yǐxī): ethylene (C2H4)

Meanings

1 ethylene (C2H4)
2 ethene
3 vinyl (chemistry)

Characters

乙

yǐ

second (Heavenly Stem); 'eth-' in chemistry

烯

xī

alkene (-ene suffix)

Examples

乙烯是石油化工的基础原料之一。

Yǐxī shì shíyóu huàgōng de jīchǔ yuánliào zhī yī.

Ethylene is one of the foundational feedstocks of petrochemistry.

聚乙烯是最常见的塑料之一。

Jù yǐxī shì zuì chángjiàn de sùliào zhī yī.

Polyethylene is one of the most common plastics.

Tips

usage

乙烯 = 乙 (Heavenly Stem #2 / "eth-") + 烯 (alkene suffix). Chinese systematic chemistry uses the ten Heavenly Stems (甲乙丙丁...) for carbon counts: 甲烷 = methane (1C), 乙烷 = ethane (2C), 乙烯 = ethene (2C with double bond). Once you learn the system, organic-chemistry vocabulary unlocks fast.

memory

烯 (xī) — fire radical 火 plus the rare 希 phonetic — is the dedicated suffix for alkenes (the "-ene" of English). Pair with 烷 (-ane) and 炔 (-yne) for the full set.