Hydrogen fluoride gas easily dissolves in water and the resulting solution is hydrofluoric acid.
Hydrofluoric acid is an important industrial chemical.
It is used to fabricate aluminum and stainless steel, etch circuit boards, and make solvents. Concentrated hydrofluoric acid is used to etch glass. Trace amounts of fluoride are present in coal and oil. When electric utilities burn these fuels in their power plants, fluoride is released in very small amounts. Some of this fluoride combines with hydrogen to form hydrogen fluoride.