Tin
🥫 In Your World
Tin is a metal with a long history. It was mixed with copper to make bronze, an alloy so important it named an entire period of human history—the Bronze Age. Today, its main use is as a corrosion-resistant coating on steel to make tin cans for food. It is also a key component of solder used to join pipes and electronic circuits, and in alloys like pewter.
📖 The Discovery Story
Tin is one of the metals of antiquity and has been known since ancient times, so no single person is credited with its discovery. Its use in bronze dates back to at least 3000 BCE. The symbol Sn comes from its Latin name, stannum. An interesting property of tin is the "tin cry," a creaking sound made when a bar of tin is bent, caused by the breaking of crystals within the metal.
📊 Properties at a Glance
| Phase at STP | Solid |
| Melting Point | 231.93 °C / 449.47 °F |
| Boiling Point | 2602 °C / 4716 °F |
| Electron Configuration | [Kr] 4d¹⁰5s²5p² |
| Abundance in Earth's Crust | 0.00022% |
⚠️ Safety & Handling
Elemental tin is non-toxic and is safely used for food containers. However, some organotin compounds (organic compounds containing tin) can be highly toxic and are used in fungicides and pesticides. They should be handled with care.