the.com/fluorite
the mineral that glows under UV and gave the word fluorescence its name
means A colorful crystalline mineral made of calcium fluoride, often glowing under ultraviolet light, prized by collectors and used industrially as a flux in smelting.
from From Latin 'fluere,' to flow — because the mineral was added to ore to make it melt and flow more easily during smelting. The same root gave us 'fluid' and 'flux.' Later, scientists noticed certain fluorite specimens glowed eerily under light, and coined 'fluorescence' after the stone — making fluorite one of the rare minerals to lend its name to a whole phenomenon.
- namesake
- Fluorescence was named after this glowing stone
- flux trick
- Lowers metal melting points in iron smelting
- perfect cleavage
- Splits cleanly along four directions into octahedrons
- hardness rank
- Defines level four on the Mohs scale
- color chaos
- Comes in nearly every color of the rainbow
fluorite illinois usa — hardin county produced 90% of us fluorite in the 20th century
fluorite china anhui province — world's largest fluorite reserves and producer, supplying ~60% of global demand