A
tin cry is the characteristic sound heard when a bar of
tinTin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead, like the two possible oxidation states +2 and +4...
is bent. Variously described as a "screaming" or "crackling" sound, the effect is caused by the
shearingShearing in continuum mechanics refers to the occurrence of a shear strain, which is a deformation of a material substance in which parallel internal surfaces slide past one another. It is induced by a shear stress in the material...
of crystals in the metal. The sound is not particularly loud, despite terms like "crying" and "screaming".
The tin cry is often demonstrated as a simple science experiment. The bar of tin will "cry" repeatedly when bent until it breaks.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Tin cry' Start a new discussion about 'Tin cry' Answer questions from other users |
A
tin cry is the characteristic sound heard when a bar of
tinTin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead, like the two possible oxidation states +2 and +4...
is bent. Variously described as a "screaming" or "crackling" sound, the effect is caused by the
shearingShearing in continuum mechanics refers to the occurrence of a shear strain, which is a deformation of a material substance in which parallel internal surfaces slide past one another. It is induced by a shear stress in the material...
of crystals in the metal. The sound is not particularly loud, despite terms like "crying" and "screaming".
The tin cry is often demonstrated as a simple science experiment. The bar of tin will "cry" repeatedly when bent until it breaks. The experiment can then be recycled by melting and recrystallizing the metal. The low melting point of tin (only 232 °C, or about 500 K) makes re-casting easy. Tin
annealsAnnealing, in metallurgy and materials science, is a heat treatment wherein a material is altered, causing changes in its properties such as strength and hardness. It is a process that produces conditions by heating to above the re-crystallization temperature and maintaining a suitable temperature,...
at reasonably-low temperature as well, normalizing tin's
microstructureMicrostructure is defined as the structure of a prepared surface or thin foil of material as revealed by a microscope above 25X magnification . The microstructure of a material can strongly influence physical properties such as strength, toughness, ductility, hardness, corrosion resistance, high /...
of crystallites/grains.
Although most typical of tin, other materials, including
niobiumNiobium , or columbium , is the chemical element with the symbol Nb and the atomic number 41...
,
indiumIndium is a chemical element with chemical symbol In and atomic number 49. This rare, soft, malleable and easily fusible post-transition metal is chemically similar to aluminium or gallium but more closely resembles zinc .Indium's current primary application is to form transparent electrodes from...
and
galliumGallium is a chemical element that has the symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Elemental gallium does not occur in nature, but as the Ga salt, in trace amounts in bauxite and zinc ores. A soft silvery metallic poor metal, elemental gallium is a brittle solid at low temperatures. As it liquefies...
, exhibit a similar effect.