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Misconceptions //// also see TIN on the Thermoelectric series

TIN

It's a semi-precious metal, high-quality stuff, expensive... we are talking about TIN here. As in TIN CANS. Well if tin cans really were made of solid sheet tin they'd be more expensive than the stuff in them! It would be a bit like cans made of solid silver. In fact "tin cans" are made of aluminium or are steel cans plated with a very thin layer of tin. The tin surface won't rust.

Another use of tin is in solder. Solder is a mixture of tin and lead, but has a melting point which is less than both! That's because of an interesting effect which occurs where a mixture of metals has a reduced melting point. In fact it's about a 60:40 mixture, a EUTECTIC mix which is the combination which has the lowest melting point.

TB adds: Interesting tin fact: If you have a piece of pure cast tin (such as a bar of pure tin solder - not rolled sheet), you can verify the purity by bending the bar. It will make a crunchy sound. ...It has something to do with the crystalline structure. That's why cast tin crunches, but formed and rolled tin generally doesn't - the rolled tin (such as sheets) has already been 'crunched'. By the way, it's not loud, like potato chips - you have to do it next to your ear.