12 Interesting Facts about Fluorine: Halogen Gas Atomic Number 9

1 Fluorine is a Jekyll and Hyde element. If inhaled in its natural form to just one particle per one hundred in air, it can kill, yet in its more stable fluoride form is beneficial for teeth.

2 Fluorine is a smelly, yellowish gas, which can form compounds with just about any other element within the periodic table, including some of the noble gases. In fact, fluorine is so reactive, directing a stream of fluorine at any object will cause it to erupt into flames. This halogen is one of the most reactive, corrosive and dangerous of all the elements.

3 Many alchemists have died in the Middle Ages trying to isolate fluorine from other compounds, and were called the Fluorine Martyrs for their efforts. But French chemist Henri Moissan managed to do so in by low temperature electrolysis in 1886, earning him the Nobel Prize for chemistry.

Fluoride in Solid State

4 Fluorine Facts

Atomic number: 9

Atomic weight: 18.9984032

State: pale yellow gas

Category: halogen

Melting point: -220°C (-364°F)

Boiling point: -188°C (-307°F)

5 Fluorine is the lightest element of the halogens (a non metallic substance that produces acid when added to hydrogen). Due to fluorine’s highly corrosive effects on metals, is difficult to store.

6 Fluorocarbon in gas form puts carbon dioxide in the shade for its global warming effects. In fact, its greenhouse powers are up to 20,000 times that of the modest CO2.

7 Fluorocarbon, a compound containing fluoride was used in the form of dichlorodifluoromethane (CFCs) in fridges, air conditioning and aerosols, but were banned due to the damage it was causing the ozone layer. Even today, a fluorine-based substance called Freon is used to retain low temperatures.

Fluoride Toothpaste

Fluorine Symbol

8 Fluoride is introduced to water supplies in most cities to one part per million, after scientists noticed people living in areas with higher fluoride levels had fewer dental cavities. Of course, fluoride is added to toothpaste for the same reason. But care is needed to keep fluorine levels below 4mg per liter, as high doses can lead to skeletal fluorosis, deformities of the bones.

What is Teflon?

9 Undesirable words for any spelling test, tetrafluoroethylene – an alkene fluorocarbon discovered by Roy Plunkett in 1936, has been used to make polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), namely Teflon. This, the toughest of the fluorine compounds, is used in space flight as it is heat resistant. It is also used as a non-stick surface for cooking ware.

10 Fluorite, a type of fluoride known as ‘fluorspar’, is a calcium-fluorine compound. When added to metal ores will lower the alloy's boiling point, making smelting easier in heat furnaces.

Uranium Hexafluoride

11 Uranium hexafluoride, or hex for short, is used in the nuclear industry to distill pure uranium. Without the fluoride component, scientists could not extract the pure uranium for nuclear reactors. This makes fluoride invaluable in the nuclear industry.

What does Electronegative Mean?

12 Fluorine is the most electronegative element of the periodic table, explaining why fluorine is such as reactive substance. Of all the elements, the fluorine atom has the greatest ability to attract other electrons. Electronegativity is a measurement conceived by American chemist Linus Pauling.