CHLORINE

(Cl), chemical element, second lightest member of the halogen elements, or Group VIIa of the periodic table. Chlorine is a toxic, corrosive, greenish yellow gas that is irritating to the eyes and respiratory system; it is two and a half times heavier than air. It becomes a liquid at -34 C (-29 F). First prepared from hydrochloric acid and manganese dioxide in 1774 by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, it was considered a compound until Sir Humphry Davy showed (1810) that it cannot be decomposed and that muriatic (hydrochloric) acid consists of hydrogen and another true element that he named chlorine. Chlorine constitutes about 0.013 percent of the Earth's crust. Free chlorine has been reported as a very minor constituent of volcanic gases, of which hydrogen chloride (q.v.) is a fairly common component. Chlorine, as the chloride ion Cl-, is the main negative ion in ocean water (1.9 percent by weight) and in inland seas such as the Caspian Sea, the Dead Sea, and the Great Salt Lake of Utah; it is found in evaporite minerals, for example, combined with sodium, as rock salt (halite) and in the minerals chlorapatite and sodalite. Natural chlorine is a mixture of two stable isotopes: chlorine-35 (75.53 percent) and chlorine-37 (24.47 percent). The Chloride ion is present in the body fluids of higher animals and as hydrochloric acid in the digestive secretions of the stomach. Chlorine gas, a poison, was the first gas used in chemical warfare in World War I. It causes suffocation, constriction of the chest, tightness in the throat, and edema of the lungs. As little as 2.5 mg per litre (approximately 0.085 percent by volume) in the atmosphere causes death in minutes, but less than 0.0001 percent by volume may be tolerated for several hours. Its strong odour gives warning of its presence at much lower concentrations than are dangerous. Most chlorine is industrially produced by the electrolysis of brine; some is also obtained as a by-product in the manufacture of sodium metal by the electrolysis of molten sodium chloride. Chlorine and its compounds are used extensively for bleaching in the paper and textile industries, for disinfecting municipal water supplies, for household bleaches and germicides, and for the production of many organic and inorganic chemicals. Chlorine molecules are composed of two atoms (Cl2). Chlorine combines directly with almost all the elements (exceptions are oxygen, fluorine, nitrogen, carbon, and the noble gases) to give chlorides; those of most metals are ionic crystals, whereas those of the semimetals and nonmetals are predominantly molecular. Besides the -1 oxidation state of the chlorides, chlorine also exhibits +1, +3, +5, +7 oxidation states, respectively, in the following ions: hypochlorite, ClO-; chlorite, ClO-2 ; chlorate, ClO-3 ; and perchlorate, ClO-4 . Four oxides, chlorine monoxide (Cl2O), chlorine dioxide (ClO2), dichlorine hexoxide (Cl2O6), and dichlorine heptoxide (Cl2O7), all highly reactive and unstable, have been indirectly synthesized. Chlorine can displace the heavier halogens, bromine and iodine, from their ionic compounds and undergoes addition or substitution reactions with organic compounds. Chlorine enters directly or as an intermediate into the synthesis of many organic chemicals that are used as solvents, dyes, plastics, and synthetic rubber. atomic number 17 atomic weight 35.453 melting point -103 C (-153 F) boiling point -34 C (-29 F) density (1 atm, 0 C) 3.214 g/litre oxidation states -1, +1, +3, +5, +7 electronic config. 2-8-7 or 1s22s22p63s23p5