Bromine structure. The halogens darken in colour as the group is descended: fluorine is a very pale yellow gas, chlorine is greenish-yellow, and bromine is a reddish-brown volatile liquid that melts at −7.2 °C and boils at 58.8 °C. (Iodine is a shiny black solid.) 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 bromine, results from the electron transition between the highest occupied antibonding "π" molecular orbital and the lowest vacant antibonding "σ" molecular orbital. The colour fades at low temperatures, so that solid
Chlorine nuclide in a ratio of about (7–10) × 10 to 1 with stable chlorine isotopes: it is produced in the atmosphere by spallation of Ar by interactions with cosmic ray protons. In the top meter of the lithosphere, Cl is generated primarily by thermal neutron activation of Cl and spallation of K and Ca. In the subsurface environment, muon capture by Ca becomes more important as a way to generate Cl. Chlorine is intermediate in reactivity between fluorine and bromine, and is one of the most reactive elements. Chlorine is a weaker oxidising agent than fluorine but a stronger one