All practice pages/Interatomic theory/Elements
Element 50, a post-transition metal
The metal that turned copper into bronze and started an age, and the solder that holds electronics together.
Period 5, group 14. The other post-transition metals are tinted, and every cell opens its own article.
Four valence electrons. Tin forms Sn²⁺ or Sn⁴⁺ ions, and also shares electrons in covalent compounds such as tin(IV) chloride.
Mined almost entirely as cassiterite (SnO₂), mainly in China, Indonesia, Myanmar and Peru. Cornwall in England was a major source from the Bronze Age into the 1900s.
Known since ancient times; adding tin to copper made bronze and began the Bronze Age more than 5,000 years ago. The name is Old English, and the symbol Sn comes from its Latin name stannum.
Solder for electronics takes about half. Tin also coats the steel of food cans, which is why they are called tin cans, and makes bronze, pewter and organ pipes. Molten tin is the flat bed on which window glass is floated, and tin compounds stabilize PVC plastic.