Calx

Calx (From Arabic "کلس") is a residual substance, sometimes in the form of a fine powder, that is left when a metal or mineral combusts or is calcinated due to heat.

Calx, especially of a metal, is now known as an oxide. According to the obsolete phlogiston theory, the calx was the true elemental substance, having lost its phlogiston in the process of combustion.

"Calx" is also sometimes used in older texts on artist's techniques to mean calcium oxide.

Etymology

Calx is Latin for chalk or limestone, from the Greek χάλιξ (khaliks, “pebble”). It is not to be confused with the Latin homonym meaning heelbone (or calcaneus in modern medical Latin), which has an entirely separate derivation.

In popular culture

• UK electronic music artist Aphex Twin named four of his tracks after differently coloured calxes (green, yellow, blue and red).

References

• Oxford Pocket Dictionary. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. 2008.