三
=
一
+
二
:
Mnemonic symbol: a Cartesian coordinate system with three (三) axes.
Socrates (s-) is performing in front of the anthill (-an1). He created an electrical flute by attaching a large capacitor (二) to the flute (一), so that he can get the attention of all the ants. Moreover, he's balancing on a Cartesian coordinate system (三). Unfortunately, only three (三) ants stop to watch the performance.
next in sequence / second / the second (day, time etc) / secondary / vice- / sub- / infra- / inferior quality / substandard / order / sequence / hypo- (chemistry) / classifier for enumerated events: time
次
=
冫
+
欠
:
Mnemonic symbol: the cube, as in words involving 三次 relate to "cubic equations" or "cube (third power)". The King of Chu (c) pulls a popsicle (冫) out of the cube (次) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4) and leaves an IOU note (欠) on the cube.
曲
=
囗
+
卄
:
Mnemonic symbol: a harp. Cupid (qu) is playing a harp (曲) in the space station's living room (Ø3). He's sitting on a big enclosure (囗), playing the harp (曲) and wielding a double axe (卄) at the same time.
线
=
戋
+
纟
:
The silk worm wants to use the floating tank in the anthill's bathroom, but there's already Marie Curie inside—and she secured the tank by setting up barbed wire all around it.