氟

fú
noun #16,302

Meanings

  1. 1 fluorine (chemistry)

Examples

HSK 5
牙膏里含有氟化物。
Yágāo lǐ hányǒu fúhuàwù.
Toothpaste contains fluoride.
HSK 6
Fú shì yī zhǒng fēicháng huópo de yuánsù.
Fluorine is a very reactive element.

Tips

memory
The 气 radical signals it's a gas element. The right component 弗 gives the pronunciation. Most gas elements in Chinese use 气 as a radical: 氢 (hydrogen), 氧 (oxygen), 氮 (nitrogen), 氟 (fluorine).

Components

radical
气 qì
gas; air
The 气 wrapper marks 氟 as a gaseous element. It heads a coined chemistry family - 氢 hydrogen, 氧 oxygen, 氮 nitrogen, 氦 helium - where 气 frames a phonetic indicating which gas. Here the gas is fluorine.
phonetic
弗 fú
not (literary)
Tucked inside the 气 corner, 弗 supplies the sound fú with the tone preserved. Its classical meaning of negation is irrelevant here - modern coiners chose it purely to approximate the international name fluorine.

Stroke Order

氟 fú