Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index

Tin

General
Name, Symbol, NumberTin, Sn, 50
Chemical series True metals
Group, Period, Block14 (IVA), 5 , p
Density, Hardness 7310 kg/m3, 1.5
Appearance silvery lustrous gray
Atomic Properties
Atomic weight 118.710 amu
Atomic radius (calc.) 145 (145) pm
Covalent radius 141 pm
van der Waals radius 217 pm
Electron configuration [Kr]44d10 5s2 5p2
e- 's per energy level2, 8, 18, 18, 4
Oxidation states (Oxide) 4,2 (amphoteric)
Crystal structure Tetragonal
Physical Properties
State of matter Solid
Melting point 505.08 K (449.47 °F)
Boiling point 2875 K (4716 °F)
Molar volume 16.29 ×1010-3 m3/mol
Heat of vaporization 295.8 kJ/mol
Heat of fusion 7.029 kJ/mol
Vapor pressure 5.78 E-21 Pa at 505 K
Speed of sound 2500 m/s at 293.15 K
Miscellaneous
Electronegativity 1.96 (Pauling scale)
Specific heat capacity 228 J/(kg*K)
Electrical conductivity 9.17 106/m ohm
Thermal conductivity 66.6 W/(m*K)
1st ionization potential 708.6 kJ/mol
2nd ionization potential 1411.8 kJ/mol
3rd ionization potential 2943.0 kJ/mol
4th ionization potential 3930.3 kJ/mol
5th ionization potential 7456 kJ/mol
Most Stable Isotopes
isoNAhalf-life DMDE MeVDP
112Sn0.97%Sn is stable with 62 neutrons
114Sn0.65%Sn is stable with 64 neutrons
115Sn0.34%Sn is stable with 65 neutrons
116Sn14.54%Sn is stable with 66 neutrons
117Sn7.68%Sn is stable with 67 neutrons
118Sn24.23%Sn is stable with 68 neutrons
119Sn8.59%Sn is stable with 69 neutrons
120Sn32.59%Sn is stable with 70 neutrons
meta state 0.006 MeV55 yIT
Beta-
0.006
0.394

121Sb
122Sn4.63%Sn is stable with 72 neutrons
124Sn5.79%Sn is stable with 74 neutrons
126Sn{syn.}~1 E5 yBeta-0.380126Sb
SI units & STP are used except where noted.
Tin is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. This silvery, malleable true metal that is not easily oxidized in air and resists corrosion is found in many alloys and is used to coat other metals to prevent corrosion. Tin is obtained chiefly from the mineral cassiterite where it occurs as an oxide.

Table of contents
1 Notable Characteristics
2 Allotropes
3 Applications
4 History
5 Occurrence
6 Isotopes
7 Precautions
8 External Links

Notable Characteristics

Tin is a malleable, ductile, highly crystalline, silvery-white metal whose crystal structure causes a "tin cry" when a bar of tin is bent (caused by crystals breaking). This metal resists corrosion from distilled sea and soft tap water, but can be attacked by strong acids, alkalis, and by acid salts. Tin acts as a catalyst when oxygen is in solution and helps accelerate chemical attack.

Tin forms Sn2 is when it is heated in the presence of air. Sn2, in turn, is feebly acidic and forms stannate (tin) salts with basic oxides. Tin can be highly polished and is used as a protective coat for other metals in order to prevent corrosion or other chemical action. This metal combines directly with chlorine and oxygen and displaces hydrogen from dilute acids. Tin is malleable at ordinary temperatures but is brittle when it is heated.

Allotropes

Solid tin has two allotropes at normal pressure. At low temperatures it exists as gray or alpha tin, which has a cubic crystal structure similar to silicon and germanium. When warmed above that 13.2 °C it changes into white or beta tin, which is metallic and has a tetragonal structure. It slowly changes back to the gray form when cooled, which is called the tin pest or tin disease. However, this transformation is affected by impurities such as aluminum and zinc and can be prevented from occurring through the addition of antimony or bismuth.

Applications

Tin bonds readily to
iron, and has been used for coating lead or zinc and steel to prevent corrosion. Tin-plated steel containers are widely used for food preservation, and this forms a large part of the market for metallic tin. Other uses; Tin becomes a superconductor below 3.72 K. In fact, tin was one of the first superconductors to be studied; the Meissner effect, one of the characteristic features of superconductors, was first discovered in superconducting tin crystals. The niobium-tin alloy Nb3Sn is commercially used as wires for superconducting magnets, due to the material's high critical temperature (18K) and critical magnetic field (25 T). A superconducting magnet weighing only a couple of kilograms is capable of producing magnetic fields comparable to a conventional electromagnet weighing tons.

History

Tin (anglo-Saxon, tin, Latin stannum) is one of the earliest metals known and was used as a component of bronze from antiquity. Because of its hardening effect on copper, tin was used in bronze implements as early as 3,500 BC. A thriving tin trade existed in Classical times between the mines in Cornwall and the civilizations of the Mediterranean. However the pure metal was not used until about 600 BC.

Occurrence

About 35 countries
mine tin throughout the world. Nearly every continent has an important tin-mining country. Tin is produced by reducing the ore with coal in a reverberatory furnace. This metal is a relatively scarce element with an abundance in the earth's crust of about 2 ppm, compared with 94 ppm for zinc, 63 ppm for copper, and 12 ppm for lead. Most of the world's tin is produced from placer deposits; at least one-half comes from Southeast Asia. The only mineral of commercial importance as a source of tin is cassiterite (SnO2), although small quantities of tin are recovered from complex sulfides such as stanite, cylindrite, frankeite, canfieldite, and teallite. Secondary, or scrap, tin is also an important source of the tin.

Isotopes

Ordinary tin is made of nine stable
isotopes and there are 18 unstable isotopes in addition to this that are also known.

Precautions

The small amount of tin that is found in canned foods is not harmful to humans. Tri
alkyl and triaryl tin compounds are biocides and need to be handled with care.

External Links

See also: International Tin Council, tinned