How to Write 砩 (fú) — Meaning “Fluorine (old term) / To obstruct”

Picture a stone (石) that is "fool" (sounds like fú) - a fool might mistake a piece of fluorite for a gemstone. Or think of "fluorite" starting with "flu" which sounds like "fú" and ends with "rite" like a stone.

Write the left radical 石 first with five strokes, then the right part 弗 with five strokes. Keep the right side narrow and balanced—common mistakes are making the 弗 too wide or forgetting the hook in the third stroke (竖折折钩).

砩 (fú) refers to fluorite or an old term for fluorine, while 矸 (gān) means waste rock or gangue in mining. 矻 (kū) means a hard stone or to toil. Visually, 砩 has 弗 with a hook and two vertical strokes, 矸 has 干 (a simple cross), and 矻 has 乞 (a bent stroke).

砩 is an old term for fluorine, now replaced by 氟 (fú), and is rarely used in daily life. You may see it in specialized mineralogy or historical texts, such as 砩石 (fluorite), but most people today say 萤石 (yíng shí) instead.

Common words containing 砩 include: 砩石 (fú shí) — fluorite; 砩粉 (fú fěn) — fluorite powder; 砩矿 (fú kuàng) — fluorite mine.