TiN's

Properties and Uses

Tin is a silvery-white malleable metal, which boasts a highly crystalline structure.  On warming, grey a-tin changes at 13.2°C into white b-tin.  b-tin is the ordinary form of the metal.  When tin is cooled below 13.2°C, it slowly changes color,to grey from white.  This conversion was first noted when European monks thought the tin growths on Cathedral organ pipes was the devils work.  Tin resists distilled, sea, and soft tap water, but is easily corroded by strong acids, alkalis, and acid salts.  The metal itself is not a hazardous element,  however, all tin compounds should be regarded as highly toxic. Organotin compounds are used as bactericides and fungicides in marine environments yet may be considered environmentally unsound, as they cause severe problems to local wildlife. 

PRACTICAL USES!!!

Tin is used to coat other metals to prevent corrosion (tin cans are made from tin coated steel).

Tin is also alloying agent.  Important tin alloys incldue soft solder, type metal, fusible metal, pewter, bronze, bell metal, babbitt metal, white metal, die casting alloy, and phosphor bronze.

Window glass is produced using the Pilkington Process, which involved floating molten glass on molten tin to produce a flat pane surface.

Tin salts can be sprayed onto glass to produce electrically conductive coatings.  These salt treated panes can be used for panel lighting and for frost-free wind-shields.

Some magnets are made of crystalline tin-niobium wire, which is incredibly conductive at low temperatures.   These magnets weigh just a few pounds, yet produce magnetic fields  comparable to those of 100 ton electromagnets.

IF i Wanted to Find TiN...

Tin can be found in Cassiterite deposits, most common in bolivia, Indonesia, Zaire, Thailand, Nigeria, and China, and not uncommon in  California and Alaska.  In Cassiterite, Tin is naturally in the form of Stannic Oxide (SnO2).

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