Fluorine is a gas at room temperature and pressure. It is one of the diatomic molecules, meaning it naturally exists as F2 rather than as individual fluorine atoms. Being a pale yellow-green gas, fluorine is highly reactive and is known for its strong oxidizing properties.
At standard conditions, the other halogens, such as chlorine, bromine, and iodine, exhibit different states of matter: chlorine is also a gas, bromine is a liquid, and iodine is a solid. This variation in states is due to differences in molecular size and intermolecular forces that affect how these elements behave under specific temperature and pressure conditions.
The gaseous state of fluorine can easily be understood due to its position in the periodic table, where it is located in Group 17, known as the halogens. As a nonmetal, fluorine’s molecular interactions are primarily dominated by van der Waals forces, which are weak compared to the strong covalent bonds within the diatomic fluorine molecule.