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Chemistry of the antipodes
At 03:48 PM 6/27/00 -0400, Wright wrote:
Neil Travis wrote:
> > In Melb if we have any clay deposits in the water it completely
> chelates the
> > fluoride.
>I haven't the foggiest what this statement means. The verb, to chelate,
>means to combine with (a metal) to form a chelate ring. Fluorine, or it's
>ionized/salt form, fluoride, are not metals, and nothing forms an organic
>ring with any kind of clay, AFAIK.
Wright, you are neglecting the effect of being in the antipodes. In the
southern hemisphere fluorine IS a metal (just as sodium is a halide). So
of course the clay will complex with it. Just don't bring that clay into
the northern hemisphere, the force of the fluorine leaving the clay can
knock you over! Or maybe that;s the force of my personality. 'Bulldozer'
Dave
--
Dave Gomberg, San Francisco mailto:gomberg at wcf_com
Jobe's Fern and Palm Spikes FREE http://www.wcf.com/pam
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