50SnTin118.71

A real sample of the element Tin — Real sample photo

Tin (Sn)

“The Bronze Age’s secret partner of copper — five thousand years on, it still guards the milk can and joins the circuits of Bangladesh.”

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Atomic number50

Atomic mass118.71

Group14

Period5

BlockP-block

PhaseSolid

Electron structure

How its electrons are arranged

[Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p²

Shell 1

2e⁻

Shell 2

8e⁻

Shell 3

18e⁻

Shell 4

18e⁻

Shell 5

4e⁻

Computed from the aufbau principle, with known real-world exceptions applied automatically.

🎯 Exam focus

Questions to practise

Try each question yourself first — then open it to read the full model answer.

1Why can no single discoverer be named for tin, and which epoch-defining alloy made the metal precious from about 3000 BCE?

Model answerTin is one of the seven metals of antiquity — known and worked for at least five thousand years, long before any record that could name a discoverer. Around 3000 BCE its alloy with copper produced bronze, far harder than either metal alone; that epoch-defining alloy gave the Bronze Age its name and made tin so precious that traders risked long sea voyages for it.

2What property makes a thin coat of tin ideal for the steel cans of condensed milk sold in Bangladesh?

Model answerTin shrugs off water and mild acids, so a whisper-thin electroplated layer shields the steel beneath from rust while the food waits on the shelf for years. The coating is also safe in contact with food and bonds tightly to the steel — together, these properties make tinplate the classic material for the condensed-milk, fish and fruit “tins” of Bangladeshi shops.

3Name tin’s chief ore, and two tin-made objects a Bangladeshi student touches in an ordinary week.

Model answerCassiterite ( $\mathrm{SnO_{2}}$ ), the dense black “tinstone”, is tin’s only important ore. In an ordinary week a student touches tin-plated food cans — the condensed-milk or canned-fish tin at home — and the solder inside electronics, because the components of phones, radios and TVs are joined by seams of tin-based solder.

4Explain the allotropic change called “tin pest”: below what temperature does it strike, and what becomes of the metal?

Model answerTin has two solid allotropes: above 13.2 °C the familiar white β-tin, a lustrous metal; below it the stable form is grey α-tin, a brittle, powdery, non-metallic solid. Under lasting cold the white form slowly converts — the metal grows spots, crumbles and finally decays into powder, the plague called “tin pest” that once ruined organ pipes and buttons in unheated cathedrals.

5Write tin’s electron configuration and use it to identify its group, period and block, counting its valence electrons.

Model answerTin’s configuration is [Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p². The differentiating electron sits in 5p, making tin a p-block element, and the highest occupied shell is n = 5, so Period 5. Counting the outer 5s² 5p² electrons gives four valence electrons — the Group 14 signature — which also explains the two familiar oxidation states, +2 in SnO and +4 in $\mathrm{SnO_{2}}$ .

6Why is tin’s symbol Sn instead of T, and which heavier group-14 neighbour follows the same pattern with Pb from plumbum?

Model answerChemical symbols follow Latin names because the earliest chemical literature was written in Latin: tin’s symbol Sn descends from stannum, the Romans’ name for the metal. Lead, the heavier group-14 neighbour directly below tin, follows exactly the same pattern — its symbol Pb comes from the Latin plumbum, not from the English word lead.

Quick answers

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Electron configurationThe full arrangement, step by step ValencyHow many bonds it forms Atomic massThe standard weight, explained Metal or nonmetalWhich family it belongs to Everyday usesWhere you meet it daily

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The notes

About the element

Characteristics

Configuration [Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p²: a post-transition metal of Group 14, Period 5, p-block, with four valence electrons and both +2 and +4 oxidation states (SnO and $\mathrm{SnO_{2}}$ ).
Allotropy with drama: above 13.2 °C white β-tin is a normal lustrous metal, but under lasting cold it crumbles into powdery grey α-tin — the decay called “tin pest”.
It shrugs off water and mild acids, so a whisper-thin coat of tin keeps steel food cans safe for years on the shelf.
It melts at only 232 °C and bends with the crackling “tin cry” — safe and pleasant to handle, yet it never occurs free in nature.

Appearance

A soft, silvery-white metal with a faint yellow sheen, easily bent by hand or rolled into foil. Bend a bar and it crackles — the famous “tin cry”, the sound of twinned crystals slipping inside the metal.

Real world

Where you meet it

✦ Uses

Tin-plating of steel food cans — the familiar “tins” of condensed milk, fish and fruit on Bangladeshi shop shelves.
Solders for electronics, from the classic tin-lead to modern lead-free tin-silver-copper alloys that join every phone’s circuit board.
Bronze (copper-tin) for bells, statues and coins; pewter tableware; and molten-tin baths on which window glass is floated perfectly flat.
Stannous fluoride ( $\mathrm{SnF_{2}}$ ) in toothpaste against cavities, and organotin stabilisers that keep PVC pipes and plastics from crumbling in sunlight.

◍ Everyday examples

A condensed-milk or canned-fish “tin” in a Bangladeshi kitchen is simply steel wearing a whisper-thin coat of tin.
Inside TVs, phones and radios, components are joined by seams of tin-based solder.
A bronze bell at a school or temple — and the classroom trick of bending a tin strip until it “cries”.

Story

History & name

Tin has no lone discoverer: alloyed with copper it created bronze around 3000 BCE and gave a whole age of history its name. Ancient traders risked long sea voyages for the tin streams of Cornwall and the mines of the East, dealing in cassiterite ( $\mathrm{SnO_{2}}$ ) — the dense, black “tinstone” that is still tin’s only important ore. The symbol Sn descends from stannum, the Romans’ name for the metal.

Name originEnglish “tin” from the Old English tinna; the symbol Sn from the Latin stannum, the Roman name of the metal.

Neighbours

Nearby elements

The elements that sit right beside this one on the table — often the closest chemical cousins.

48CdCadmium112.41 49InIndium114.82 51SbAntimony121.76 52TeTellurium127.60