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Tin T1

Tin is a metal that is present in Earth's crust at about 0.001% abundance, similar to other useful elements like cobalt and nickel. It exists in two forms: white tin and gray tin. White tin is the common stable form above 13.2°C, while gray tin transforms to white tin at this temperature. Tin has many useful properties like being nontoxic, ductile, and resistant to corrosion through the formation of a thin oxide layer. It is used commonly in tin plating of iron, tin piping, and tin-based alloys like bronzes and solders. Organic tin compounds are useful but can also be toxic to humans.

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39 views2 pages

Tin T1

Tin is a metal that is present in Earth's crust at about 0.001% abundance, similar to other useful elements like cobalt and nickel. It exists in two forms: white tin and gray tin. White tin is the common stable form above 13.2°C, while gray tin transforms to white tin at this temperature. Tin has many useful properties like being nontoxic, ductile, and resistant to corrosion through the formation of a thin oxide layer. It is used commonly in tin plating of iron, tin piping, and tin-based alloys like bronzes and solders. Organic tin compounds are useful but can also be toxic to humans.

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Thunderkick
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Tin

The element is present in the igneous rocks of Earth’s crust to the extent of about 0.001
percent, which is scarce but not rare; its abundance is of the same order of magnitude as
such technically useful elements as cobalt, nickel, copper, cerium, and lead, and it is
essentially equal to the abundance of nitrogen. In the cosmos there are 1.33 atoms of tin
per 1 × 106 atoms of silicon, an abundance roughly equal to that
of niobium, ruthenium, neodymium, or platinum. Cosmically, tin is a product
of neutron absorption. Its richness in stable isotopes is noteworthy.

Properties of the element

Tin is nontoxic, ductile, malleable, and adapted to all kinds of cold-working, such as rolling,
spinning, and extrusion. The colour of pure tin is retained during exposure because a thin,
invisible, protective film of stannic oxide is formed spontaneously by reaction with the oxygen of
the air. The low melting point of tin and its firm adhesion to clean surfaces of iron, steel, copper,
and copper alloys facilitate its use as an oxidation-resistant coating material. Tin exists in two
different forms, or allotropes: the familiar form, white (or beta) tin, and gray (or alpha) tin, which is
powdery and of little use. The gray form changes to the white above 13.2 °C (55.8 °F), rapidly at
temperatures above 100 °C (212 °F); the reverse transformation, called tin pest, occurs at low
temperatures and seriously hampers the use of the metal in very cold regions. This change is rapid
only below −50 °C (−58 °F), unless catalyzed by gray tin or tin in the +4 oxidation state, but is
prevented by small amounts of antimony, bismuth, copper, lead, silver, or gold normally present in
commercial grades of tin.

White tin has a body-centered tetragonal crystal structure, and gray tin has a face-centred cubic
structure. When bent, tin makes an eerie, crackling “cry” as its crystals crush each other. Tin is
attacked by strong acids and alkalies, but nearly neutral solutions do not affect it appreciably.
Chlorine, bromine, and iodine react with tin, but fluorine reacts with it only slowly at room
temperature. The relationships among the allotropic modifications of tin can be represented as
transformations from one crystal type to another at specific temperatures

Uses

Tin-plating of iron protects the latter from corrosion; tin piping and valves maintain purity in water
and beverages; molten tin is the base for (float) plate-glass production. Because pure tin is
relatively weak, it is not put to structural uses unless alloyed with other metals in such materials as
bronzes, pewter, bearing metals, type metals, lead-based solders, bell metal, babbitt metal, and
low-temperature casting alloys. Tin oxide, in which tin is in the +4 oxidation state, is useful in
making ceramic bodies opaque, as a mild abrasive, and as a weighting agent for fabrics. Tin
fluoride and tin pyrophosphate, in which tin is in the +2 oxidation state, are used in dentifrices.
Organic tin compounds act as stabilizers in certain plastics and as wood preservatives. A
crystalline alloy with niobium is a superconductor at temperatures as high as 18 K (−427 °F) and
retains this property in very strong magnetic fields.

Elemental tin is apparently nontoxic, and quantities of tin up to 300 parts per million, as dissolved
by foods packaged in tin-plated containers and cooking utensils, are not harmful. Organic tin
compounds commonly used as biocides and fungicides are, however, toxic to human beings.

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