Cryogenic Information Library
Fluorine - Related Gases

Fluorine (F) is the most electronegative and reactive of all elements.  It is a pale yellow, corrosive gas, which reacts with most organic and inorganic substances.  Finely divided metals, glass, ceramics, carbon, and even water burn in fluorine with a bright flame. Until World War II, there was no commercial production of elemental fluorine.  The nuclear bomb project and nuclear energy applications, however, made it necessary to produce large quantities. Fluorine and its compounds are used in producing uranium (from the hexafluoride) and more than 100 commercial fluorochemicals, including many high-temperature plastics.  Hydrofluoric acid etches glass of light bulbs.  Fluorochlorohydrocarbons are extensively used in air conditioning and refrigeration. The presence of fluorine as a soluble fluoride in drinking water to the extent of 2 ppm may cause mottled enamel in teeth when used by children acquiring permanent teeth; in smaller amounts, however, fluoride helps prevent dental cavities. Elemental fluorine has been studied as a rocket propellant as it has an exceptionally high specific impulse value. One hypothesis says that fluorine can be substituted for hydrogen wherever it occurs in organic compounds, which could lead to an astronomical number of new fluorine compounds.  Compounds of fluorine with rare gases have now been confirmed in fluorides of xenon, radon, and krypton.

Atomic Number 9 Atomic Weight 18.998403 Melting Point 53.53 K Boiling Point 85.3 K Heat of Vaporization 166.5 kj/kg K Specific Heat 1.55 kj/kg K Viscosity 244.7 kg/m-s X 106 Thermal Conductivity .135 (kj/m s K) 103 Dielectric Constant 1.43 Critical Temperature 118.2 K Critical Pressure 5.559 MPa Temperature at Triple Point 53.5 K Density 1505 kg/m3 Phase at Room Temperature Gas

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