Tin

Chemical Element
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group
14 of the periodic table. Wikipedia

Symbol: Sn
Electron configuration: [Kr] 4d105s25p2
Atomic number: 50
Melting point: 449.5F (231.9C)
Atomic mass: 118.71 u
Boiling point: 4,717F (2,603C)
Electrons per shell: 2, 8, 18, 18, 4

Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (for Latin: stannum) and atomic number 50. It is
a main group metal in group 14of the periodic table. Tin shows a chemical similarity to both
neighboring group-14 elements, germanium and lead, and has two possible oxidation states, +2
and the slightly more stable +4. Tin is the 49th most abundant element and has, with 10 stable
isotopes, the largest number of stable isotopes in the periodic table. It is a
silvery, malleable other metal that is not easily oxidized in air, obtained chiefly from
the mineral cassiterite where it occurs as tin dioxide, SnO2.

The first alloy used on a large scale since 3000 BC was bronze, an alloy of tin and copper. After
600 BC, pure metallic tin was produced. Pewter, which is an alloy of 8590% tin with the
remainder commonly consisting of copper, antimony and lead, was used for flatware from
the Bronze Age until the 20th century. In modern times, tin is used in many alloys, most notably
tin/lead soft solders, which are typically 60% or more tin. Another large application for tin
is corrosion-resistant tin plating of steel. Because of its low toxicity, tin-plated metal was used for
food packaging as tin cans, which are now made mostly of steel,[citation needed] even though the name
is kept in English.

Sn
Tin

118.710

Atomic Number: 50

Atomic Weight: 118.710

Melting Point: 505.08 K (231.93C or 449.47F)

Boiling Point: 2875 K (2602C or 4715F)

Density: 7.287 grams per cubic centimeter

Phase at Room Temperature: Solid

Element Classification: Metal

Period Number: 5 Group Number: 14 Group Name: none

What's in a name? From the Anglo-Saxon word tin. Tin's atomic symbol comes
from the Latin word for tin, stannum.

Say what? Tin is pronounced as TIN.

History and Uses:

Archaeological evidence suggests that people have been using tin for at least 5500
years. Tin is primarily obtained from the mineral cassiterite (SnO 2) and is extracted
by roasting cassiterite in a furnace withcarbon. Tin makes up only about 0.001% of
the earth's crust and is chiefly mined in Malaysia.

Two allotropes of tin occur near room temperature. The first form of tin is called
gray tin and is stable at temperatures below 13.2C (55.76F). There are few, if
any, uses for gray tin. At temperatures above 13.2C, gray tin slowly turns into tin's
second form, white tin. White tin is the normal form of the metal and has many
uses. Unfortunately, white tin will turn into gray tin if its temperature falls below
13.2C. This change can be prevented if small amounts of antimony or bismuth are
added to white tin.

Tin resists corrosion and is used as a protective coating on other metals. Tin cans
are probably the most familiar example of this application. A tin can is actually
made from steel. A thin layer of tin is applied to the inside and outside of the can to
keep the steel from rusting. Once widely used, tin cans have largely been replaced
with plastic and aluminum containers.

Tin is used in the Pilkington process to produce window glass. In the Pilkington
process, molten glass is poured onto a pool of molten tin. The glass floats on the
surface of the tin and cools, forming solid glass with flat, parallel surfaces. Most of
the window glass produced today is made this way.

Tin is used to form many useful alloys. Bronze is an alloy of tin and copper. Tin
and lead are alloyed to make pewter and solder. An alloy of tin and niobium is used
to make superconductive wire. Type metal, fusible metal, bell metal and Babbitt
metal are other examples of tin alloys.

Tin salts can be sprayed onto glass to make electrically conductive coatings. These
can then be used to make panel lighting and frost-free windshields. Stannous
fluoride (SnF2) is used in some types of toothpaste.

Estimated Crustal Abundance: 2.3 milligrams per kilogram

Estimated Oceanic Abundance: 410-6 milligrams per liter

Number of Stable Isotopes: 8 (View all isotope data)

Ionization Energy: 7.344 eV

Oxidation States: +4, +2

Electron Shell Configuration:

1s2

2s2 2p6

3s2 3p6 3d10

4s2 4p6 4d10

5s2 5p2
 Materials Science and Engineering: A
Volume 194, Issue 1, April 1995, Pages 1723

Microstructure and high temperature mechanical properties of

tin
P. Adeva,
G. Caruana,
O.A. Ruano,
M. Torralba
Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalrgicas, CSIC, Av. Gregorio del Amo 8, 28040
Madrid, Spain
Received 3 May 1994, Revised 12 August 1994, Available online 14 January 2000

Show less

Choose an option to locate/access this article:

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution

Check access

Purchase $41.95

doi:10.1016/0921-5093(94)09654-6

Get rights and content

 Abstract

The mechanical properties of tin have been studied by tensile tests in the
temperature range 293463 K. Tensile tests were performed for cylindrical samples
at a constant strain rate and varying strain rates during deformation. In-situ-tensile
tests also were conducted in ribbon-form samples. At the strain rates studied,
deformation takes place preferentially by slip, although some scattered twins also
were observed at lower temperatures. Strong grain growth occurs at the higher
temperatures. Microstructural observations of deformed samples show that dynamic
recrystallization is not important in the temperature range investigated. The fracture
surface of the cylindrical samples changes from a chisel type of fracture at the lower
temperatures to a simple shear type of fracture at the higher temperatures. Both the
tensile strength and ductility decrease with increasing temperature. An explanation is
given for the loss of ductility at high temperatures. The activation energy for creep,
obtained from strain-rate-change tests is 35 kJ mol1 and the stress exponent is
about 6. These values are related to a slip mechanism controlled by pipe diffusion.

Keywords
Tin;
Mechanical properties;
Microstructure

Copyright 1995 Published by Elsevier B.V.