THE CHEMICAL ELEMENT FLUORINE
Fluorine is the thirteenth most abundant element and compounds containing fluorine are found in all living things. It is a tiny atom and is the most reactive of all the elements. It can only be separated from its compounds using large amounts of electrical energy. Fluorine is so reactive that it can extract oxygen from water and it also releases oxygen as a gas. Compounds of fluorine are called fluorides and most fluorides dissolve in water and oil. Fluorine is so corrosive that finely divided glass, metals, carbon, ceramics and even water burn in fluorine. It was used in atom bombs and nuclear energy projects after the II World War. Fluorine can now be transported by the ton but you won't be able to buy it at shops since it is highly toxic. Below is the atom structure of fluorine.
FACT FILE
Name: Fluorine
Symbol: F
Atomic Number: 9
Atomic Weight: 18.9984032(5.)
English: Aerial view of K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Pla...
150 px
English: Fluorine cell roomGroup in Periodic Table: 17
Period in Periodic Table: 2
Group Name: Halogen
Block in Periodic Table: p-block
Standard State: gas at 298 Kelvin
Colour: pale yellow
Electrical Resistivity: unknown
Melting Point: -219.62 degrees
Boiling Point: -188.12 degrees
Origin of Name: from the Latin word fluere meaning to flow.
THE DISCOVERY OF FLUORINE
Fluorine was first discovered in 1670 by a Frenchman named George Gore who came across the element by accident. He was etching glass using Bohemian Emerald (known as Calcium Fluoride) and made a little fluoride through an electrolytic1. His apparatus blew up due to a chemical reaction between the fluorine and hydrogen. It was finally isolated in 1886 by Ferdinand Frederic who used an apparatus constructed of platinum. His reward was the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1906.
USES
*Fluorine and its compounds are used in producing isotopically fractionated uranium (UF6)...