fluorine

• Description
• General information
• Physical data
• Radii
• Electronegativities
• Solid state structure
• Temperatures
• Enthalpies
• Ionization Enthalpies
• Isotopes
• Further information

Description

Fluorine is a Group 17 element. Fluorine is the most electronegative and reactive of all elements. It is a pale yellow, corrosive gas, which reacts with practically all organic and inorganic substances. Finely divided metals, glass, ceramics, carbon, and even water burn in fluorine with a bright flame.

Until World War 2, there was no commercial production of elemental fluorine. Atom bomb projects and nuclear energy applications made it necessary to produce large quantities of fluorine since isotopes of uranium can be separated through the gas diffusion of UF₆. Reasonably safe handling techniques for fluorine are now available and one can transport liquid fluorine by the ton. Compounds of fluorine with noble gases such as xenon, radon, and krypton are known. Elemental fluorine and the fluoride ion (in quantity) are highly toxic.

General information

Discoveror: Henri Moissan
Date discovered: 1886
Discovered at: France
Meaning of name: From the Latin word "fluere" meaning "to flow"

Physical data

Standard state: gas at 298 K
Colour: pale yellow
Density of solid at ambient temperature/kg m^-3: no data
Molar volume/cm³: 11.20

Radii /pm

Atomic: 42
Covalent (single bond):
Pauling radius for the ion [F]^-: 136

Valence shell orbital radius maxima (R_max)

orbital	s	p	d	f
radius	40.6	38.1	no data	no data

Electronegativities

Both values are quoted on the Pauling scale.

Pauling: 3.98
Allred Rochow: 4.10

Crystal Structure

structure: monoclinic

The following CrystalMaker image represents the solid state structure. For most elements, the most stable allotrope is illustrated. Try WebElements version 2 for interactive virtual reality and CHIME images.

Temperatures (/K)

melting point: 53.53
boiling point: 85.03

Enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

fusion: 0.51
vaporization: 6.54

single bond enthalpies:

F-F	F-Cl	F-Br	F-I	F-F
155	249	249	278	158.75

Ionization enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

Number	Enthalpy
1st	1681.0
2nd	3374.2
3rd	6050
4th	8408
5th	11023
6th	15164
7th	17867
8th	92038

Isotopes

This section gives some data for naturally occurring isotopes.

Nominal mass	Accurate mass	% natural abundance
19F	18.99840322 (15)	100

Further Information

• Additional information about WebElements 1.2.2
• This is a licensed copy (here is the full list) of WebElements 1.2.2 and contains a subset of the material contained within the main version of WebElements (version 2)
• For further information please try WebElements version 2
• Sheffield Chemdex: perhaps the largest internet chemistry directory
• Sheffield Chemputer: interactive chemistry calculators on the WWW