Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Pure fluorite is colourless and transparent, both in visible and ultraviolet light, but impurities usually make it a colorful mineral and the stone has ornamental and lapidary uses. Industrially, fluorite is used as a flux for smelting, and in the production of certain glasses and enamels.
Antozonite with calcite from the Margnac Mine, Compreignac, Haute-Vienne, Limousin, France - (6x5.5cm) Fluorite (antozonite) from Wölsendorf, Oberpfalz, Southern Germany Antozonite (historically known as Stinkspat , Stinkfluss , Stinkstein , Stinkspar [ 1 ] and fetid fluorite [ 2 ] ) is a radioactive fluorite variety first found in Wölsendorf ...
Fluorite, the primary mineral source of fluorine, which gave the element its name, was first described in 1529; as it was added to metal ores to lower their melting points for smelting, the Latin verb fluo meaning ' to flow ' gave the mineral its name. Proposed as an element in 1810, fluorine proved difficult and dangerous to separate from its ...
The main uses of fluoride, in terms of volume, are in the production of cryolite, Na 3 AlF 6. It is used in aluminium smelting. Formerly, it was mined, but now it is derived from hydrogen fluoride. Fluorite is used on a large scale to separate slag in steel-making. Mined fluorite (CaF 2) is a commodity chemical used in steel-making.
Two commercially important halide minerals are halite and fluorite. The former is a major source of sodium chloride, in parallel with sodium chloride extracted from sea water or brine wells. Fluorite is a major source of hydrogen fluoride , complementing the supply obtained as a byproduct of the production of fertilizer.
Naturally occurring CaF 2 is the principal source of hydrogen fluoride, a commodity chemical used to produce a wide range of materials. Calcium fluoride in the fluorite state is of significant commercial importance as a fluoride source. [11] Hydrogen fluoride is liberated from the mineral by the action of concentrated sulfuric acid: [12]
Though elemental fluorine (F 2) is very rare in everyday life, fluorine-containing compounds such as fluorite occur naturally as minerals. Naturally occurring organofluorine compounds are extremely rare. Man-made fluoride compounds are common and are used in medicines, pesticides, and materials.
The fluorite structure refers to a common motif for compounds with the formula MX 2. [1] [2] The X ions occupy the eight tetrahedral interstitial sites whereas M ions occupy the regular sites of a face-centered cubic (FCC) structure. Many compounds, notably the common mineral fluorite (CaF 2), adopt this structure.