THE BEECHMONT CREST SCIENCE ZONE
LEARNING THE CHEMICAL ELEMENTS
Fluorine
Name origin: Latin fluere = “flow”
Symbol: F
Atomic number: 9
Atomic weight: 18.9984
- Fluorine is extremely reactive. It is the most powerful oxidizer of all elements. Fluorine can oxidize any metal.
- Fluorine is added to drinking water throughout the United States. In this application, it is mixed at a proportion of one part-per-million.
- Fluorine is included in the Group VIIA group of elements, commonly known as halogens. The halogens are all nonmetallic, highly active elements. They are bromine (Br), chlorine (Cl), iodine (I) and astatine (At).
- Fluorine isotopes have atomic weights between 17 and 23. The only naturally occurring one is fluorine-19. The rest are radioactive, and must be produced artificially.
