Question

What is tin pest, also known as tin disease?

Short answer

Tin pest refers to a phenomenon where the element tin undergoes transformation and degrades the quality of tin objects at lower temperatures.

Step-by-step solution

Tin

Tin is one of the chemical elements that appear as a silvery metal. Its chemical symbol is Sn obtained from its Latin name,stannum.

Information about tin

Tin pest

Tin has two allotropes. White tin is stable above\({\bf{13}}{\bf{.}}{{\bf{2}}^{\bf{^\circ }}}{\bf{C}}\), and is malleable like other metals. Grey tin isa more stable allotrope below \({\bf{13}}{\bf{.}}{{\bf{2}}^{\bf{^\circ }}}{\bf{C}}\)and is brittle.

As temperature decreases and white tin changes to grey, it starts at one spot, and the transformation proceeds to spread like a disease. The name "tin disease" comes from this process.