Fluorine named the acidic product "fluss-spats-syran" (fluorspar acid). In 1810, the French physicist André-Marie Ampère suggested that hydrogen and an element analogous to chlorine constituted hydrofluoric acid. Sir Humphry Davy proposed that this then-unknown substance be named "fluorine" from fluoric acid and the "-ine" suffix of other halogens. This word, with modifications, is used in most European languages; Greek, Russian, and some others (following Ampère's suggestion) use the name "ftor" or derivatives, from the Greek φθόριος ("phthorios", destructive). The New Latin name "fluorum" gave the element its current symbol F; Fl was used in early papers. Initial studies on fluorine were
Origin and occurrence of fluorine Origin and occurrence of fluorine Fluorine is relatively rare in the universe compared to other elements of nearby atomic weight. On earth, fluorine is essentially found only in mineral compounds because of its reactivity. The main commercial source, fluorite, is a common mineral. At 400 ppb, fluorine is estimated to be the 24th most common element in the universe. It is comparably rare for a light element (elements tend to be more common the lighter they are). All of the elements from atomic number 6 (carbon) to atomic number 14 (silicon) are hundreds or thousands of times more common than