#FLUORINE ATOMIC RADIUS SKIN#

This measure of atomic radius is called the van der Waals radius after the weak attractions present in this situation. The attractive forces are much less, and the atoms are essentially 'unsquashed'.

The right hand diagram shows what happens if the atoms are just touching.

The type of atomic radius being measured here is called the metallic radius or the covalent radius depending on the bonding. This is what you would get if you had metal atoms in a metallic structure, or atoms covalently bonded to each other. The atoms are pulled closely together and so the measured radius is less than if they are just touching. The left hand diagram shows bonded atoms. The radius of an atom can only be found by measuring the distance between the nuclei of two touching atoms, and then halving that distance.Īs you can see from the diagrams, the same atom could be found to have a different radius depending on what was around it. Unlike a ball, an atom doesn't have a fixed radius. Important! If you aren't reasonable happy about electronic structures you should follow this link before you go any further.

It assumes that you understand electronic structures for simple atoms written in s, p, d notation. Sodium fluoride, NaF, is used as an insecticide.This page explains the various measures of atomic radius, and then looks at the way it varies around the Periodic Table - across periods and down groups. Reaction with the alkali metals produces salts called fluorides. Hydrofluoric acid can be stored in polyethylene containers.

#FLUORINE ATOMIC RADIUS SKIN#

Hydrofluoric acid must be handled with great care, because skin contact produces lesions which heal very slowly. It and the vapor phase HF can be used for etching glass. Hydrogen fluoride, HF, in water is called hydrofluoric acid. Lead with chlorine and fluorine form matlockite.įluorine is found with lanthanum and cerium in the carbonate mineral parisite. Fluorine with antimony and titanium are contained in the oxide romeite.įluorine is in the sulfate minerals creedite and sulfohalite and the fluoride cryolite. Fluorine is found with tantalum, niobium and aluminum in the oxide mineral simpsonite. Fluorine is found with calcium, solium and tantalum in the oxide mineral microlite. Fluorine is a constituent of the silicate topaz, which produces extraordinarily large crystals.Īluminum with boron and fluorine form the oxide (borate) Jeremejevite. Fluorine is found in the phosphate minerals Herderite, Wavellite and montebrasite.įluorine is contained in the silicate minerals carletonite, lepidolite, leucophanite, Norbergite, phlogopite, chondrodite, clintonite, wilhuite and fluorapophyllite. A small percentage of fluorapatite along with the more abundant calcium phosphates in teeth can make them more resistant to decay. Also occurring as a mineral is fluorapatite, Ca 5(PO 4) 3F, which is a constituent of bones and teeth. Fluorite is used to manufacture steel and is the main source of fluorine for toothpaste, fluoridated water, coolants, and Teflon. Steel tanks can therefore be used as containers for transport of fluorine.įluorine occurs in nature in minerals such as fluorite, CaF 2, which can produce gem quality crystals. Copper and steel are attacked by it, but become coated with a thin layer of copper fluoride or iron fluoride and resist further attack. Even asbestos reacts so vigorously that it becomes incandescent. Ordinary substances like wood and rubber burst into flame when held into a stream of fluorine. The reactivity of pure fluorine gas is remarkable.

It forms compounds with all the elements except the noble gases. Fluorine, the lightest of the halogens, is the most reactive of all the elements.

Fluorine atomic radius