Note 16 — Chapter XVII · BORON, ALUMINIUM, AND THE ANALOGOUS METALS OF THE THIRD GROUP

Fluoboric acid contains boron fluoride and water, hydrofluoboric acid, boron fluoride, and hydrofluoric acid. It is evident that on the one side the competition between water and hydrofluoric acid, and, on the other hand, their power to combine, are among the forces which act here. From the fact that hydroborofluoric acid, HBF4, can only exist in an aqueous solution, it must be assumed that it forms a somewhat stable system only in the presence of 3H2O.