Tin is perhaps one of the oldest metals known to Man. Tin was familiar to Man in ancient times as he learned to add it to copper to make bronze, thus setting off the Bronze Age.
Tin is an element perhaps best known for its use in tin cans. However, these days, such cans are almost always made of aluminium. Even the original tin cans, first introduced in the 1800s, were mostly steel, but plated with tin!
Tin is the 49th most common element in the earth’s crust. Today, tin is used as a coating for steel to make tinplate. Tin is added to lead for soldering metals also. Tin added to silver and copper is used for dental amalgams. It is a component of pewter, metals for bells, and Babbitt metal in bearings.
Tin is also used in art and decorations. The element is also important in Li-ion batteries and PVC plastics.
Tin is represented as Sn, which comes from the Latin word stannum. Stannum was known to be an alloy of lead and silver. The atomic number of tin is 50.
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