Question

Give the chemical reaction between tin and water.

Answer 1

Hint : Tin is an unreactive metal in general. In reactions carried out with water at room temperature, it is unaffected and forms no product. When tin is heated with steam, it undergoes a chemical reaction, where tin dioxide and hydrogen are the products.

Complete Step By Step Answer:
Tin $\left( {Sn} \right)$ is a chemical element with atomic number $50$ . In the periodic table, it is a p-block element, being a part of group $14$ and period $5$ . Group $14$ elements include Carbon, Silicon, Germanium, Tin, Lead and Flerovium, and this group is also called the Carbon family.
In terms of reactivity, Tin is not very reactive. In comparison with the elements in its own group, it is more reactive than germanium, which lies just above it in the group. At room temperature, Tin is unaffected by water or air. This suggests that it is anti-corrosive and is applied as coatings to protect other metals. At higher temperatures, tin reacts with steam and the products formed are tin dioxide $\left( {Sn{O_2}} \right)$ and hydrogen. The balanced chemical equation for the reaction is as follows:
$Sn{\text{ }} + {\text{ }}2{H_2}O\; \to {\text{ }}Sn{O_2}\; + {\text{ }}2{H_2}$
Tin reacts with two molecules of water, which is actually in the form of steam, to form Tin dioxide and two molecules of hydrogen gas.

Note :
Tin is attacked by acid and alkalis. It is used in certain reactions as a catalyst, where it helps to accelerate the reaction. In terms of its physical properties, it is ductile, malleable and non-toxic. Since it has a low melting point, it assures good fixation or cohesion on the surfaces of other metals, where it acts as an anti-corrosion coating.