science

Radical 172

Radical 172 is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Radical 172 rather than just read about it. In short: Radical 172 or radical short tailed bird (隹部) meaning "bird" or "short-tailed bird" is one of the 9 Kangxi radicals (214 radicals in total) composed of 8 strokes. In the Kangxi Dictionary, there are 233 characters (out of 49,030) to be found under this radical. 隹 is also the 174th indexing component in the Table of Indexing Chinese Character Components predominantly adopted by Simplified Chinese dictionaries publish…

Key takeaways

Radical 172 belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Radical 172 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Radical 172 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Radical 172 or radical short tailed bird (隹部) meaning "bird" or "short-tailed bird" is one of the 9 Kangxi radicals (214 radicals in total) composed of 8 strokes. In the Kangxi Dictionary, there are 233 characters (out of 49,030) to be found under this radical. 隹 is also the 174th indexing component in the Table of Indexing Chinese Character Components predominantly adopted by Simplified Chinese dictionaries published in mainland China.

Evolution

Derived characters

Variant Forms There is a difference in Japanese and Chinese in printing typefaces for the third stroke of this radical. In the Kangxi Dictionary and in Japanese, the form with a short line slanting downward to the left on top of the first horizontal line is used. In both Simplified Chinese (mainland China, Singapore) and standard Traditional Chinese (Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau), the form with a dot slanting downwards to the right on top of the horizontal line is used, while the Kangxi Dictionary form is still widely used in Traditional Chinese publications. This difference may also apply to handwritten forms, albeit not always strictly followed.

Literature Fazzioli, Edoardo (1987). Chinese calligraphy : from pictograph to ideogram : the history of 214 essential Chinese/Japanese characters. calligraphy by Rebecca Hon Ko. New York: Abbeville Press. ISBN 0-89659-774-1.

References

External links

Unihan Database - U+96B9

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Radical 172

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Radical 172 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Radical 172 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Radical 172 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Radical 172

In research: Radical 172 appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Radical 172 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Radical 172 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Birds in culture, Kangxi radicals, Simplified Chinese radicals, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Radical 172 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Radical 172 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Radical 172 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Radical 172 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Radical 172 in simple terms?

Why does Radical 172 matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Radical 172?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Radical 172.