Question

What are the common oxidation states of tin metal?

Answer 1

The degree of oxidation (loss of electrons) of an atom in a chemical compound is described by the oxidation state, often known as the oxidation number. The oxidation state, which can be positive, negative, or zero, is the hypothetical charge that an atom would have if all of its connections to other atoms were entirely ionic, with no covalent component. When it comes to genuine bonds, this is never the case.

Complete answer:
Tin is a chemical element with atomic number 50 and the symbol Sn. Tin is a silvery metal with a slight yellow tint to it. Tin is soft enough to cut with minimal effort. The so-called "tin cry" may be heard when a bar of tin is twisted due to twinning in tin crystals; this property is also shared by indium, cadmium, zinc, and frozen mercury. After hardening, pure tin has a mirror-like image, similar to that of most metals.
The metal solidifies with a dull grey hue in most tin alloys (such as pewter). Tin belongs to the periodic table's group 14 as a post-transition metal. It's mostly made from cassiterite, a mineral that includes stannic oxide ( $Sn{{O}_{2}}$ ). Tin has two major oxidation states, +2 and the somewhat more stable +4, and is chemically comparable to both of its neighbours in group 14, germanium and lead. Tin is the 49th most common element on Earth and, owing to its magic number of protons, has the most stable isotopes in the periodic table, with ten stable isotopes.
$S{{n}^{2+}}$ is the stannous ion, while $SnC{{l}_{2}}$ is stannous chloride.
$S{{n}^{4+}}$ is the stannic ion, while $SnC{{l}_{4}}$ is stannic chloride, a volatile liquid.
Hence the common oxidation states are +2 and + 4.

Note:
The oxidation state of an atom has nothing to do with its "real" formal charge or any other atomic characteristic. This is especially true at high oxidation states, when the ionisation energy necessary to generate a multiply positive ion exceeds the energies available in chemical processes. Furthermore, depending on the electronegativity scale employed in their computation, the oxidation states of atoms in a particular molecule may differ. As a result, an atom's oxidation state in a compound is merely a formalism.