This week's element is atomic number 50 - Tin!
Obviously the elemental symbol does not coincide with the name, as most do. The
elemental symbol comes from the Latin word for tin, which is Stannum.
It
is not known who discovered Tin because it has been extracted since at least
3000 BC. Tin has a highly crystalline structure, and due to this when a piece
of tin is broken a small "scream" ca be heard.
Tin
is one of the few elements that has an alchemical
symbol. It also exists as 0.001% of the Earth's crust. Tin has two main
forms - gray tin, which exists below 13 degrees Celsius, and white
tin, which is the more normal form of the element.
There
are few uses for gray tin, but many for white tin. The "tin" can is
often made of aluminum these days, but even the original wasn't tin. These cans
were actually steel cans that had a thin tin coating to prevent corrosion.
The
most common use of tin is for the production of bronze (The Bronze Age), which is an
alloy of copper and tin. Pewter and solder are made out of tin and lead.
Superconductive wires are sometimes made of tin alloys.
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