Tin - Periodic Table of Videos

A new video about the element Tin.
More links and info in full description ↓↓↓

Featuring Professor Sir Martyn Poliakoff and senior technician Neil Barnes.

With thanks to the Garfield Weston Foundation.

[bsul]

Over 60 years ago, when I was a schoolboy, I remember my chemistry teacher telling me about an international incident resulting from this allotrope of tin. After all this time I'm not sure I can remember all the details, but it seems that a large quantity of tin was required by a foreign power ( I think it was Russia) and they negotiated a deal with the British government to buy Cornish tin from the UK. A large ingot was crated up and, upon payment of the negotiated sum, the shipment was duly sent. In the nineteenth century, the sea voyage took several weeks sailing through arctic waters and, when it finally arrived, the crate was opened only to find a horrible powdery mess within. Naturally, the customer believed the British government had swindled them and it took quite a time before it was realised that prolonged exposure to sub-zero temperatures had brought about the change of state and that the contents of the crate could be melted down and the ingot re-cast!

[micahphilson]

8:20 Crushing tiny tin soldiers under the might of his gigantic hammer and powerful biceps.

Just another day on the job for Neil.

[Valdagast]

8:14 The Power of Neil compels you!

Also, remember that if you are not part of the solution you are part of the precipitate.

[artsyredd]

"Neal tapped it with a hammer"
WHAM

[PowllMorgan]

A note:
Soldering has been used for much longer than electronics have existed. Lead and copper roof cladding has been soldered for centuries as have the earliest forms of _tin_ cans :)

Another very interesting use of tin is in the process of making pane glass. They use a liquid bath of tin and pour a layer of molten glass from a continuous furnace onto it. Because the melting point of glass is almost 1200 degrees higher than that of tin, the glass solidifies very quickly and because the tin is dense and liquid, its surface is very smooth.
Brilliant engineering = nice glass windows!

[fatdadable]

I admire how you managed to still remain a child on the inside and how you can be so enthusiastic and in awe about the results of your experiments. Greetings from Germany.

[Nintencrow]

Hooray for unsuccessful experiments, great video. As always, Professor Sir Martyn Poliakoff's knowledgeability and science communication skills are a joy to behold. Thank you for doing this.

[Eralen]

Is Neil allowed to carry those guns at a Uni?

[jarenhudson]

This man is converting me to chemistry. HELP! His team and his own efforts need a STEM education award - this is equally as Entertaining as Mythbusters.

[stopndrop]

I never won anything in my life but I feel like I won the world when watching these videos.

[saintchuck]

Thanks for making Professor prove you wrong, Brady. Good episode. Really enjoying these revisits.

[Rohandutt]

“Neil was a bit dubious, as always, as i was right “
MAn that line has 2 meaning

[jsvgh]

About a hundred years ago, my great grandfather's occupation was related directly to Tin. In those days people used the cookware made of Copper and since Copper reacts with acidic food and releases poisonous compounds, then they had to cover their cookware with a layer of Tin and that is what my great grandfather used to do. That's why my family name is "Qal' Kar", which means "the person who works with Tin" in Persian.

[marcuscicero]

what is really cool about the Professor is that he's retained his childhood fascination and can still appreciate things such as the colors produced by chemical reactions.

[EEVblog]

Please do something on Tin Whisker growth, it's a fascinating subject!

[MatthijsvanDuin]

"Commercial grades of tin (99.8%) resist transformation because of the inhibiting effect of the small amounts of bismuth, antimony, lead, and silver present as impurities." — wikipedia page on tin

[jorgenskyt]

Making gray tin: Once I had made a solution of tin chloride and wanted to grow beautiful tin crystals by lowering a piece of zinc metal, enclosed in a piece of paper towel, into the solution. At once the reaction started but not the one expected. In stead of pretty, shiny crystals I got a thick "carpet" of gray material growing on the paper towel. Suddenly I realized that the solution was around 10-11 C (it was a cold kitchen during winter) so the growth of tin was in its alpha form, namely gray tin. Repeating the experiment after heating the solution to around 20 C (short period in the microwave) resulted in beautiful, shiny tin crystals in it's beta form.

[David-xoci]

This is one of those channels that makes me realise how fascinating the world around me is. Thanks for uploading!

[JcGross]

RIP poor, brave little tin soldier. May you never be forgotten!

[Lukec]

Makes me so happy to see the professor's passion for chemistry. Truly a lifetime love.