Tin

Tin,  ₅₀Sn

General properties
Allotropes	alpha, α (gray); beta, β (white)
Appearance	silvery-white (beta, β) or gray (alpha, α)
Standard atomic weight (Ar, standard)	7002118710000000000♠118.710(7)
Tin in the periodic table
Hydrogen Helium Lithium Beryllium Boron Carbon Nitrogen Oxygen Fluorine Neon Sodium Magnesium Aluminium Silicon Phosphorus Sulfur Chlorine Argon Potassium Calcium Scandium Titanium Vanadium Chromium Manganese Iron Cobalt Nickel Copper Zinc Gallium Germanium Arsenic Selenium Bromine Krypton Rubidium Strontium Yttrium Zirconium Niobium Molybdenum Technetium Ruthenium Rhodium Palladium Silver Cadmium Indium Tin Antimony Tellurium Iodine Xenon Caesium Barium Lanthanum Cerium Praseodymium Neodymium Promethium Samarium Europium Gadolinium Terbium Dysprosium Holmium Erbium Thulium Ytterbium Lutetium Hafnium Tantalum Tungsten Rhenium Osmium Iridium Platinum Gold Mercury (element) Thallium Lead Bismuth Polonium Astatine Radon Francium Radium Actinium Thorium Protactinium Uranium Neptunium Plutonium Americium Curium Berkelium Californium Einsteinium Fermium Mendelevium Nobelium Lawrencium Rutherfordium Dubnium Seaborgium Bohrium Hassium Meitnerium Darmstadtium Roentgenium Copernicium Nihonium Flerovium Moscovium Livermorium Tennessine Oganesson Ge ↑ Sn ↓ Pb indium ← tin → antimony
Atomic number (Z)	50
Group	group 14 (carbon group)
Period	period 5
Element category	post-transition metal
Block	p-block
Electron configuration	[Kr] 4d10 5s2 5p2
Electrons per shell	2, 8, 18, 18, 4
Physical properties
Phase at STP	solid
Melting point	505.08 K ​(231.93 °C, ​449.47 °F)
Boiling point	2875 K ​(2602 °C, ​4716 °F)
Density (near r.t.)	white, β: 7.265 g/cm3 gray, α: 5.769 g/cm3
when liquid (at m.p.)	6.99 g/cm3
Heat of fusion	white, β: 7.03 kJ/mol
Heat of vaporization	white, β: 296.1 kJ/mol
Molar heat capacity	white, β: 27.112 J/(mol·K)
Vapor pressure P (Pa) 1 10 100 1 k 10 k 100 k at T (K) 1497 1657 1855 2107 2438 2893
Atomic properties
Oxidation states	4, 3,2, 1, −1, −2, −3, −4 ​(an amphoteric oxide)
Electronegativity	Pauling scale: 1.96
Ionization energies	1st: 708.6 kJ/mol 2nd: 1411.8 kJ/mol 3rd: 2943.0 kJ/mol
Atomic radius	empirical: 140 pm
Covalent radius	139±4 pm
Van der Waals radius	217 pm
Spectral lines
Miscellanea
Crystal structure	​tetragonal white (β)
Crystal structure	​face-centered diamond-cubic gray (α)
Speed of sound thin rod	2730 m/s (at r.t.) (rolled)
Thermal expansion	22.0 µm/(m·K) (at 25 °C)
Thermal conductivity	66.8 W/(m·K)
Electrical resistivity	115 nΩ·m (at 0 °C)
Magnetic ordering	gray: diamagnetic white (β): paramagnetic
Magnetic susceptibility	(white) +3.1·10−6 cm3/mol (298 K)
Young's modulus	50 GPa
Shear modulus	18 GPa
Bulk modulus	58 GPa
Poisson ratio	0.36
Brinell hardness	50–440 MPa
CAS Number	7440-31-5
History
Discovery	around 3500 BC
Main isotopes of tin
Iso­tope Abun­dance Half-life (t1/2) Decay mode Pro­duct 112Sn 0.97% stable 114Sn 0.66% stable 115Sn 0.34% stable 116Sn 14.54% stable 117Sn 7.68% stable 118Sn 24.22% stable 119Sn 8.59% stable 120Sn 32.58% stable 122Sn 4.63% stable 124Sn 5.79% stable 126Sn trace 2.3×105 y β− 126Sb
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Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from Latin: stannum) and atomic number 50. It is a post-transition metal in group 14 of the periodic table. It is obtained chiefly from the mineral cassiterite, which contains tin dioxide, SnO₂. Tin shows a chemical similarity to both of its neighbors in group 14, germanium and lead, and has two main 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, thanks to its magic number of protons. It has two main allotropes: at room temperature, the stable allotrope is β-tin, a silvery-white, malleable metal, but at low temperatures it transforms into the less dense grey α-tin, which has the diamond cubic structure. Metallic tin does not easily oxidize in air.

The first tin alloy used on a large scale was bronze, made of tin and copper, from as early as 3000 BC. After 600 BC, pure metallic tin was produced. Pewter, which is an alloy of 85–90% 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 and in the manufacture of transparent, electrically conducting films of indium tin oxide in optoelectronic applications. Another large application for tin is corrosion-resistant tin plating of steel. Because of the low toxicity of inorganic tin, tin-plated steel is widely used for food packaging as tin cans. However, some organotin compounds (compounds formed from tin and hydrocarbons) can be almost as toxic as cyanide.