1886: Fluorine - The book of science

Fluorine
Atomic number 9
Unnatural stuff
Commentary

Fluorine

Georgius Agricola used fluorite
to lower the melting point
of metals during smelting.
Andreas Sigismund Marggraf invented
hydrofluoric acid.
André-Marie Ampère knew hydrofluoric acid
contained a new element
similar to chlorine.
Humphry Davy was poisoned trying to isolate it
and named it fluorine.
No one could isolate it.
It was too reactive.
It didn’t conduct electricity
so electrolysis failed.
It corroded electric terminals.
It was so toxic
several chemists died of it.
Henri Moissan used electrolysis
with platinum and iridium terminals
in a glass container sealed with fluorite
containing a conductive mixture
of potassium bifluoride
and dry hydrogen fluoride
cooled to slow down the corrosion.

Atomic number 9

Fluorite
for smelting metals
Hydrofluoric acid
for etching glass
Chlorofluorocarbon
for refrigerants
Hexafluorosilicic acid
for water fluoridation
Sodium monofluorophosphate
for toothpaste
Sodium hexafluoroaluminate
and aluminium trifluoride
for aluminum extraction
Uranium hexafluoride
for uranium enrichment
Polytetrafluoroethylene
for Teflon™
Polytetrafluoroethylene
for Gore-Tex®
Krypton fluoride
for lasers

Unnatural stuff

Stuff that doesn’t form
in nature, is it
all that unnatural?
Even natural stuff—arsenic,
lead, mercury—is toxic,
so do you want it?
Fluorine is corrosive, volatile, and toxic,
but there’s no adverse affect
of low amounts of calcium fluoride in water.
Our town didn’t fluoridate,
so we had our dentist
give our kid fluoride treatments.

The short history of the Anthropocene epoch includes stories of extreme barbarism, wantonness, and carelessness, but also gradual improvement, in spite of notable disasters, of our ability to control our material environment.