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Ferric oxide
Properties

General
Name Iron (III) oxide
Chemical formula Fe2O3
Appearance Red powder

Physical
Formula weight 159.7 amu
Melting point 1838 K (1565 °C)
Density 5.2 ×103 kg/m3
Crystal structure Corundum
Solubility insoluble

Thermochemistry
ΔfH0liquid ? kJ/mol
ΔfH0solid -824 kJ/mol
S0liquid, 1 bar ? J/mol·K
S0solid 87 J/mol·K

Safety

Ingestion Dangerous, iron poisoning may result.
Inhalation Iron poisoning, pulmonary edema may result.
Skin Contact with molten iron ore can cause iron poisoning.
Eyes May cause irritation.
More info Hazardous Chemical Database
SI units were used where possible. Unless otherwise stated, standard conditions were used.

Disclaimer and references

Ferric oxide is one of several oxide compoundss of iron, and is most notable for its ferromagnetic properties. It is sometimes known as gamma ferric oxide or synthetic maghemite, and its chemical formula is Fe2O3. Its molecular mass is 159.70 g mol-1, it melts at 1565 degrees Celsius, and has a density of 5.24 g cm-3.

It is often used in magnetic storage, for example in the magnetic layer of floppy disks. These consist of a thin sheet of mylar plastic, coated with ferric oxide. The particles can be magnetised to represent binary data. Magnetic Ink Character Recognition also uses ferric oxide compounds, suspended in an ink which can be read by special scanning hardware.

See also