Tin [Sn] (CAS-ID: 7440-31-5) locate me
An: 50 N: 69 Am: 118.710
Group No: 14  Group Name: (none)
Block: p-block  Period: 5
State: solid at 298 K
Colour: silvery lustrous grey Classification: Metallic
Boiling Point: 2875K (2602'C)
Melting Point: 505.08K (231.93'C)
Density: (white) 7.265g/cm3
Density: (grey) 5.769g/cm3
Shell Structure diagram | Atomic Radius diagram
Isotopes | Allotropes | More Info
Discovery Information
Who: Known to the ancients.
Name Origin
Symbol Sn from Latin: stannum (tin).
Sources
Principally found in the ore cassiterite(SnO2) and stannine (Cu2FeSnS4) in Malaya and Indonesia, Zaire and Nigeria, Bolivia and Thiland. 35 countries throughout the world mine tin. The pure metal is formed by reduction with coal.
Uses
Used as a coating for steel cans. Also in solder (33%Sn:67%Pb), bronze (20%Sn:80%Cu), and pewter. Stannous fluoride (SnF5), a compound of tin and fluorine is used in some toothpaste. It is also used in the manufacture of super conducting magnets. While tin has many uses in alloys, it has few uses in it's pure elemental form.
Tin foil was once a common wrapping material for foods and drugs; now replaced by the use of aluminium foil, which is commonly referred to as tin foil.
Notes
Tin becomes a superconductor below 3.72K. Tin was one of the first superconductors to be studied.
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 is the element with the greatest number of stable isotopes (ten). 18 additional unstable isotopes are known.
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