Tin
post-transition metal · period 5 · group 14 · p-block
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from Latin: stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery metal that characteristically has a faint yellow hue. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force.
What the numbers say
At standard temperature and pressure Tin is a solid, sitting in period 5, group 14 of the p-block.
Its melting point of 505 K (232 °C) is the 83rd highest of the 110 elements with a measured value — mid-range among the elements.
At 7.31 g/cm³ it is the 45th densest of 96 elements with a quoted density.
Pauling electronegativity is 1.96. Paired with oxygen (3.44) that is a difference of 1.48, which puts the bond polar covalent — oxides here tend to be semiconducting or refractory rather than salt-like.
In the solid state it takes a centered tetragonal structure.
It is reported in 3 oxidation states (-4, 2, 4), which sets how many distinct compounds and phases it can form.
First identified in c. 3500 BCE.
Crystal structure
Solid Tin adopts a Centered Tetragonal arrangement, in the Tetragonal system — axes a = b ≠ c, angles α = β = γ = 90°. Symmetry controls the anisotropy of stiffness and thermal expansion, and the available slip systems set how far the metal deforms before it fractures.
Where tin shows up in engineering materials
1 entry in the materials library names it directly:
- Bearing bronze C93200 (SAE 660) — Bronze
Crystallographic examples
Tin or one of its compounds is a textbook example for this crystal system:
- Tetragonal — β-Sn, rutile TiO₂, zircon, martensite (BCT)
Check it against computed structures
The structure search queries the Materials Project, OQMD and the Open Materials Database for computed crystal structures containing Sn — with DFT formation energy, hull stability and band gap where the provider publishes them.
K 2 · L 8 · M 18 · N 18 · O 4
Properties
| Atomic number | 50 |
|---|---|
| Atomic mass | 118.7107 u |
| Series | post-transition metal |
| Group | 14 |
| Period | 5 |
| Block | p-block |
| Phase at STP | Solid |
| Density | 7.31 g/cm³ |
| Melting point | 505.08 K (232 °C) |
| Boiling point | 2875 K (2602 °C) |
| Electronegativity (Pauling) | 1.96 |
| Electron configuration | [Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p² |
| Crystal structure | Centered Tetragonal |
| Oxidation states | -4,2,4 |
| Discovered | c. 3500 BCE |
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See Sn in context with all 118 elements.
Working with tin in a real design?
Ask the materials chat how Sn behaves in your alloy system, what it does to weldability, and which grades to look at — with the source of every number named.