Talk:Tin

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Article changed over to new Wikipedia:WikiProject Elements format by maveric149. Elementbox converted 15:30, 5 July 2005 by Femto (previous revision was that of 07:46, 10 June 2005).

Contents

[edit] Information Sources

Some of the text in this entry was rewritten from Los Alamos National Laboratory - Tin. Additional text was taken directly from USGS Tin Statistics and Information, the Elements database 20001107 (via dict.org), Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (via dict.org) and WordNet (r) 1.7 (via dict.org). Data for the table was obtained from the sources listed on the main page and Wikipedia:WikiProject Elements but was reformatted and converted into SI units.


[edit] Talk


All of the 'poor metals' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table/Standard_Table in grey are refered to as 'true metals' in each of the articles. I think this is an error.

User:ShaunMacPherson



It seems that tin has the interesting property that when it's cold for a long period of time, it corrodes into "grey tin." Someone who knows more about this might want to mention it.

http://www.luminet.net/~wenonah/hydro/sn.htm

http://www.physics.uoguelph.ca/summer/scor/articles/scor40.htm

Cchiappa 15:48, 13 July 2005 (UTC) The tin alloys.......

Corrode is perhaps the wrong term to use, but it does under go a change. This "corrosion" is simmilar to ice melting from ice to water, it is totally temperature/pressure dependant and is related to phase transitions. Don't have time to add this in but it could be a very interesting addition as it has historically caused trouble for Siberian invaders (Tin cans of food became unusable). See the section on allotropes.-Darkwraith 21:30, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Isotopes

The Isotope section is very lacking. Other than it being an interesting fact it should be removed unless other facts about uses or studies can be added.-Darkwraith 21:30, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Etymology

"The word "tin" has cognates in many Germanic and Celtic languages. The American Heritage Dictionary speculates that the word was borrowed from a pre-Indo-European language."

From ancient times, the best-known metals have been associated with celestial bodies and metals and celestial bodies in turn with gods. The Greeks and Romans associated gold with the Sun and Apollo; mercury (quicksilver) with the planet and god Mercury (Hermes); copper with the planet and goddess Venus (Aphrodite); silver with Earth's Moon and Diana (Artemis); iron with the planet and god Mars (Ares); lead with the planet and god Saturn (Chronos). Tin was associated with the planet and god Jupiter (Zeus).

The Etruscans of central and north Italy, former rulers of Rome, were important intermediaries between the Greeks and the Romans - for instance, definitely in the transmission of the alphabet - and in general shared central elements of both cultures. Their trading network, in metals and other commodities such as amber, reached Central and Northern Europe: for instance, the proto-Germanic Runes (runic alphabet), are possibly of north-Etruscan ("Alpine") derivation.

In the Wikipedia article on Iron, a derivation of its Germanic proto-form from Etruscan "aisar" is suggested. A much more obvious Etruscanism in Germanic had already occurred to me, that of "tin" (German Zinn, where t > [ts] written "z" is a later development) from the well-known Etruscan name of Zeus/Jupiter, "Tinia".


Please cite sources for the ancient trans-European tin trade? I'd be particularly interested in studies of the earliest tin trade, c2300BC or earlier, between Cornwall / Devon and the Mediterranean: what routes were taken, what transport means were used -- it is difficult for me to imagine a primitive seafaring route, and a land route would seem to have been simply too long -- there must have been closer and cheaper tin sources. Also, what actual archaeological evidence exists for such a trade: surmise maybe, and artifacts, but has anyone really established the existence of trade in the raw material? I've added a "citation needed" template in the article: seems to me there might be some controversy over this, and that substantiation would be needed.
--Kessler 16:37, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tin foil

Does anyone know about what year Tin (not aluminum) foil stopped being sold in stores? Joeylawn 21:14, 8 February 2006 (UTC) For special purpose it still is available at providers of laboratory or dental products (if you do not care about the price). It is used for capacitors, roquefort cheese and body electrodes as well. --217.6.249.186 10:30, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree that stating the date as 1910 seems too specific. I doubt there was a precise date; it probably declined in popularity as aluminum declined in price. Perhaps the article should be changed. --71.227.190.111 02:40, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] History

I note that there is a request for a citation in the History section of the article. This is partly supplied by the link to the WP article Cassiterides. It would be good to have more history, for instance reference to smelting by the Blowing House method.

Vernon White 18:28, 10 September 2006 (UTC)