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Fluorine is a chemical element; it has symbol F and atomic number 9. It is the lightest halogen [note 1] and exists at standard conditions as pale yellow diatomic gas. Fluorine is extremely reactive as it reacts with all other elements except for the light inert gases. It is highly toxic.
Fluorine is a relatively new element in human applications. In ancient times, only minor uses of fluorine-containing minerals existed. The industrial use of fluorite, fluorine's source mineral, was first described by early scientist Georgius Agricola in the 16th century, in the context of smelting. The name "fluorite" (and later "fluorine ...
Fluorite mining (the main source of fluorine) was estimated in 2003 to be a $550 million industry, extracting 4.5 million tons per year. [4] Mined fluorite is separated into two main grades, with about equal production of each. Acidspar is at least 97% CaF 2; metspar is much lower purity, 60–85%.
Fluorine compounds. Fluorine forms a great variety of chemical compounds, within which it always adopts an oxidation state of −1. With other atoms, fluorine forms either polar covalent bonds or ionic bonds. Most frequently, covalent bonds involving fluorine atoms are single bonds, although at least two examples of a higher order bond exist. [2]
Its use began in the 1940s, following studies of children in a region where water is naturally fluoridated. It is now used widely in public water systems in the United States and some other parts of the world, such that about two-thirds of the U.S. population is exposed to fluoridated water supplies [5] and about 5.7% of people worldwide. [6]
References. [2][3][4][5] Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF 2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. The Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison, defines value 4 as ...
Fluorapatite (Ca 5 (PO 4) 3 F) is mined along with other apatites for its phosphate content and is used mostly for production of fertilizers. Most of the Earth's fluorine is bound in this mineral, but because the percentage within the mineral is low (3.5%), the fluorine is discarded as waste. Only in the United States is there significant recovery.
Isotopes of fluorine (9F) ). Only fluorine-19 is stable and naturally occurring in more than trace quantities; therefore, fluorine is a monoisotopic and mononuclidic element. ; it has a half-life of 109.734 (8) min. All other fluorine isotopes have half-lives of less than a minute, and most of those less than a second.