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Type your anseName: Fluorine
Type: Halogen
Density @ 293 K: 0.001696 g/cm3
Discovery of Fluorine
In 1530 Georgius Agricola described the use of the mineral fluorspar in metal refining. Fluorspar (which we now know is mainly calcium fluoride) was very useful because it combined with the unwanted parts of metal ores, allowing the pure metal to flow and be collected.
Fluorine had not yet been discovered and the 'fluor' in fluorspar came from the Latin word 'fluere', meaning to flow, because this is what it allowed metals to do. The element name fluorine ultimately came from the 'fluor' in fluorspar.
Several chemists carried out experiments on fluorspar in the early 1800s including Gay Lussac, Louis Jacques Thenard, Humphry Davy, Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Joseph Priestley.
Often they produced what they called fluoric acid - now named hydrofluoric acid - a highly reactive and potentially deadly acid. Even small splashes of this acid on skin can be fatal.
Several early attempts to isolate fluorine led to blindings and fatalities. Humphrey Davy wrote: "[fluoric acid] is a very active substance, and must be examined with great caution.
In 1809 Andre-Marie Ampere proposed that fluoric acid was a compound of hydrogen and an unknown element. He exchanged letters with Humphry Davy and in 1813 Davy announced the discovery of the new element fluorine, giving it the name suggested to him by Ampere.
Davy wrote: "... it appears reasonable to conclude that there exists in the fluoric compounds a peculiar substance, possessed of strong attractions for metallic bodies and hydrogen... it may be denominated fluorine, a name suggested to me by M. Ampere."
Fluorine was finally isolated in 1886 by Henri Moissan - whose own work was interrupted four times by serious poisoning caused by the element he was pursuing.
Moissan isolated fluorine by electrolysis of dry potassium hydrogen fluoride and anhydrous hydrofluoric acid. To limit corrosion, he built a platinum container and the electrolytic solution was cooled to -23 oF (-31 oC.) The stoppers were made out of fluorite (a more modern name for our old friend fluorspar, which we began this section with). Fluorine was produced at the positive electrode.
Henri Moissan received the 1906 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his achievement.
What else can I help you with?
Where was the element fluorine discovered?
Fluorine was discovered by Henri Moissan in 1886 in France at the University of Paris.
Where was fluorine discovered?
Owing to its extreme reactivity, elemental fluorine was not isolated until many years after the characterization of fluorite. Progress in isolating elemental fluorine was slowed because it could be prepared only electrolytically and even then under stringent conditions, since the gas attacks many materials. In 1886, the isolation of elemental fluorine was reported by Henri Moissan after almost 74 years of effort by other chemists
Who created fluorine?
Fluorine was discovered by Henri Moissan in 1886. He successfully isolated the element by electrolyzing a mixture of potassium fluoride and hydrogen fluoride.
Was fluorine man made?
Fluorine is a naturally occurring element. However, because it is highly reactive it never occurs naturally as a pure element; it is only found in compounds such as fluorite. Elemental fluorine must be separated from its compounds by artificial means.
First element known to be radioactive?
Uranium is the first element known to be radioactive. It was discovered by Henri Becquerel in 1896.
What are some Historical facts about fluorine?
Discovered it by Joseph Henri Moissan
In what country was fluorine discovered?
Fluorine was discovered in France in 1886 by the discoverer Joseph Henri Moissan.
What is Joseph Henri moissan famous for?
Joseph Henri Moissan was famous for discovering fluorine.
Who found flourine?
Fluorine was discovered by a chemist named Joseph Henri Moissan in 1886.
Why was fluorine discovered?
Fluorine was first isolated by Henri Moissan in 1886.
The country of which fluorine was discovered?
Fluorine was discovered in France by Henri Moissan in 1886.
Who discovered Flourine and when?
Joseph Henri Moissan in 1886.
Where was the element fluorine discovered?
Fluorine was discovered by Henri Moissan in 1886 in France at the University of Paris.
Where was fluorine discovered?
Owing to its extreme reactivity, elemental fluorine was not isolated until many years after the characterization of fluorite. Progress in isolating elemental fluorine was slowed because it could be prepared only electrolytically and even then under stringent conditions, since the gas attacks many materials. In 1886, the isolation of elemental fluorine was reported by Henri Moissan after almost 74 years of effort by other chemists
How was the element fluorine discovered?
There is no element 'flourine' - it's 'fluorine'. Fluorine was discovered by Henri Moissan in 1886 who perfected a process using electrolysis to produce fluorine from fluorite, a mineral discovered in 1530. Fluorite and fluorine are not the same.
When was fluorine discovered and by who?
fully isolated in 1886 by Ferdinand Frederic Henri Moisson
What is the place of birth for fluorine?
Fluorine was discovered by Henri Moissan in 1886 in France.
