General > Biology
Fluid
Zelos:
well then its a problem. Why is it so reactive?
PurpleYouko:
HF in solution (possibly 100% since it is a liquid at normal <19C temperatures) is technically defined as a weak acid.
This definition does not mean what you might think though. A weak acid is one which ionically dissociated in an aqueous medium. HCl and HBr are other weak acids while things like Nitric acid (HNO3) and Sulphuric acid (H2SO4) are considered strong acids.
What make HF so corrosive is not its acidity but is actually the fact that the F- anion is the most electronegative thing known to science. (electronegativity relates to its afinity for electrons) In this state the Fluorine atom has an extra electron which it desperately wants to lose to form a bond with another atom.
Usually F- will prefer to make an ionic bond (salt) with H+ or another electropositive element like Sodium or Potassium but hese bonds are (unfortunately for life forms) transitory. They exist as an equilibrium HF <--> H+ + F-
This means that until the F- anion finds a permanent home in a covalent bond, it just keeps moving around displacing other bonds. Basically it is a wrecking ball that breaks up other molecules. Once it does find a permanent home (usually attached to a carbon atom in place of some useful bond that used to be there or in a very strong ionic bond with one of the rare earth elements) it increases the concentration of free protons in the solution because H+ and F- are no longer in equilibrium.
So as Fluorine is used up, the acidity of the solution also goes up (pH goes down). Now the protons move in and begin reacting with the broken molecules.
The overall result of any object in HF is that you end up with a solution of metallic fluorides and all the Carbon originally present in the object converts to CO2 gas
HF facts
HF is the only solvent known to directly attack glass.
An HF burn on your skin only needs to to be over a 10 square cm area to be fatal.
HF can kill without any visible burn at all on the skin.
F- anions preferentially attack metals. They are able to travel though intact skin and will strip the Calcium from your bones. The H+ is the part that will destroy tissue.
HF gas (>19C) is the most corrosive gas known to science.
Don't mess with HF unless you are highly trained to do so.
Numsgil:
So you're saying I should get this looked at?
PurpleYouko:
Nahh! I shouldn't bother. Your foot is going to drop off either way. It could also be too late to save your life already so you should just do your best to ignore the excruciating agony and work on DarwinBots while you still have the time. :D
Zelos:
discusting nums, plz dont but those ugly pics on the forum
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