Fluorine
...ne gas from the hydrogen gas. All of this after 74 years of research of the chemical. He won the Nobel Prize in 1906. Fluorine is a gas a little bit heavier than air. It’s pale yellow. It reacts with almost all the elements. These reactions are usually combustion. Even water burns in fluorine with a bright flame. When fluorine is cooled, it becomes a yellow liquid. 0.065% of the world’s crust is fluorine. Fluorine and its compounds are used in many things. They produce uranium and many fluorochemicals. Some chemists believe that fluorine can be used as a substitute for hydrogen. Fluorine, in its pure form, is usually diluted with nitrogen and reacts with hydrocarbons to form fluorocarbons. In this process, fluorine replaces the hydrogen. In the end the results are very stable compounds with a resistance to electricity. This process is called fluorination. For instance: plastics (like Teflon) are made with fluorine. The coolant in fridges, air conditioners, and aerosol cans is made with dichlorodifluoromethane, which is a fluorinated compound. Fluorine is good for teeth and bones. It makes them stronger and prevents teeth decay. It increases calcium. Fluorine is put in to toothpaste and city drinking water supplies for this reason. But since it’s poisonous, the proportion of it in these things is very small. About one part per million. Some of the fluorine compounds in tooth paste are: sodium fluoride, stannous fluoride, and sodium monofluorophosphate. Hydrofluoric acid is used to etch gas, especially light bulbs. Crystals of calcium fluoride, also known as fluorite and fluo...