Chlorine of fusion and vaporisation of chlorine are again intermediate between those of bromine and fluorine, although all their heats of vaporisation are fairly low (leading to high volatility) thanks to their diatomic molecular structure. The halogens darken in colour as the group is descended: thus, while fluorine is a pale yellow gas, chlorine is distinctly yellow-green. This trend occurs because the wavelengths of visible light absorbed by the halogens increase down the group. Specifically, the colour of a halogen, such as chlorine, results from the electron transition between the highest occupied antibonding "π" molecular orbital and the lowest vacant antibonding
Fluorine other elements from carbon to magnesium are twenty or more times as common. This is because stellar nucleosynthesis processes bypass fluorine, and any fluorine atoms otherwise created have high nuclear cross sections, allowing further fusion with hydrogen or helium to generate oxygen or neon respectively. Beyond this transient existence, three explanations have been proposed for the presence of fluorine: Fluorine is the thirteenth most common element in Earth's crust at 600–700 ppm (parts per million) by mass. Elemental fluorine in Earth's atmosphere would easily react with atmospheric water vapor, precluding its natural occurrence; it is found only in combined mineral