# What does fluorine smell like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 29, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fluorine-smell-like/747497 "2016-02-29T13:55:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fluorine-smell-like/747497/21 "2016-03-01T21:54:02Z")
It smells … like VICTORY! ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fluorine-smell-like/747497/22 "2016-03-02T03:22:30Z")
> [@astro](#): > > It smells … like VICTORY! A little help for your slower readers? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fluorine-smell-like/747497/23 "2016-03-02T03:52:54Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > A little help for your slower readers? as in smelling napalm in the morning? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fluorine-smell-like/747497/24 "2016-03-02T03:55:56Z")
I used to work with HF all the time, and it smells like fear itself, like Satan’s own oversanitized hot tub with god knows what excreted into the water. It’s a smell that makes you simply want to give up on life. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fluorine-smell-like/747497/25 "2016-03-02T16:35:07Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > I used to work with HF all the time, and it smells like fear itself, like Satan’s own oversanitized hot tub with god knows what excreted into the water. It’s a smell that makes you simply want to give up on life. So, like beets? What I smelled wasn’t like beets. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fluorine-smell-like/747497/26 "2016-03-02T21:58:24Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I thought you could smell ozone all the time…a big thunderstorm…hanging around somewhere where sparks were flying…I thought THAT unique smell WAS ozone. You sure that’s not [_petrichor_](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3023/what-s-that-smell-right-before-it-rains-plus)? I’ve been pretty close (less than 100 yards or so) from a few lightning strikes, but I never noticed any particular smell (except, perhaps, for one time, when it struck a friend’s house while I was visiting, but even then, I believe it was more like the smell of the roasted components of his TV-set (which, incidentally, went up in a big ball of flame!) than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fluorine-smell-like/747497/27 "2016-03-03T01:12:26Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > So, like beets? What I smelled wasn’t like beets. There’s no need to get melodramatic about it. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fluorine-smell-like/747497/28 "2016-03-03T02:51:39Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > There’s no need to get melodramatic about it. Of course. Handily said. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fluorine-smell-like/747497/29 "2016-03-03T02:58:21Z")
Eat it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fluorine-smell-like/747497/30 "2016-03-03T03:40:21Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Eat it. Moderator Note This poster has evidently been posting under the influence, and has been temporarily suspended after making multiple posts of this kind. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fluorine-smell-like/747497.md?page=1)