Editing Tin (section)

===Specialized alloys===
[[File:Plate_MET_174927.jpg|thumb|left|[[Pewter]] plate]]
[[File:Alfonso Santiago Leyva and his son Tomás working.jpg|thumb|Artisans working with tin sheets]]

Tin in combination with other elements forms a wide variety of useful alloys. Tin is most commonly alloyed with copper. [[Pewter]] is 85–99% tin,<ref>{{cite book|last = Hull|first = Charles|title = Pewter|publisher = Osprey Publishing|date = 1992|isbn = 978-0-7478-0152-8|pages = 1–5}}</ref> and [[Babbitt metal|bearing metal]] has a high percentage of tin as well.<ref>{{cite book|chapter = Introduction|pages = 1–2|isbn = 978-1-110-11092-6|chapter-url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=hZ3zGS6by9UC}}|title=Analysis of Babbit|author=Brakes, James|publisher=BiblioBazaar, LLC|date=2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|pages = 46–47|isbn = 978-1-4067-4671-6|url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=KR82QRlAgUwC|page=46}}|title=Principles of Metallography|author=Williams, Robert S.|publisher=Read books|date=2007}}</ref> [[Bronze]] is mostly copper with 12% tin, while the addition of [[phosphorus]] yields [[phosphor bronze]]. [[Bell metal]] is also a copper–tin alloy, containing 22% tin. Tin has sometimes been used in coinage; it once formed a single-digit percentage (usually five percent or less) of American<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/fun_facts/?action=fun_facts2 | publisher = US Mint | access-date = 2011-10-28 | title = The Composition of the Cent | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111025203152/http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/fun_facts/?action=fun_facts2 | archive-date = 2011-10-25}}</ref> and Canadian<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.bcscta.ca/resources/hebden/chem/Coin%20Compositions.pdf | publisher = Canadian Mint | access-date = 2011-10-28 | title = Composition of canadian coins | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120113112752/http://www.bcscta.ca/resources/hebden/chem/Coin%20Compositions.pdf | archive-date = 2012-01-13 }}</ref> pennies. <!--Because copper is often the major metal in such coins, sometimes including zinc, these could be called bronze, or brass alloys.-->

The [[niobium]]–tin compound [[Niobium–tin|Nb<sub>3</sub>Sn]] is commercially used in [[Electromagnetic coil|coils]] of [[superconducting magnet]]s for its high [[critical temperature#In Superconductivity|critical temperature]] (18&nbsp;K) and critical magnetic field (25&nbsp;[[Tesla (unit)|T]]). A superconducting magnet weighing as little as two [[kilogram]]s is capable of producing the magnetic field of a conventional [[electromagnet]] weighing tons.<ref name="geballe">{{cite journal|last=Geballe|first=Theodore H.|title=Superconductivity: From Physics to Technology|journal=Physics Today|volume=46|issue=10|date=October 1993|pages=52–56|doi=10.1063/1.881384 |bibcode = 1993PhT....46j..52G }}</ref>

A small percentage of tin is added to [[zirconium alloy]]s for the cladding of nuclear fuel.<ref>{{cite book| chapter-url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=6VdROgeQ5M8C|page=597}}| page =597| chapter =Zirconium| title =Elements of Metallurgy and Engineering Alloys| isbn =978-0-87170-867-0| last1 =Campbell| first1 =Flake C.| date =2008| publisher =ASM International| url-status =live| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160528212426/https://books.google.com/books?id=6VdROgeQ5M8C&pg=PA597| archive-date =2016-05-28}}</ref>

Most metal pipes in a [[pipe organ]] are of a tin/lead alloy, with 50/50 as the most common composition. The proportion of tin in the pipe defines the pipe's tone, since tin has a desirable tonal resonance. When a tin/lead alloy cools, the lead phase solidifies first, then when the eutectic temperature is reached, the remaining liquid forms the layered tin/lead eutectic structure, which is shiny; contrast with the lead phase produces a mottled or spotted effect. This metal alloy is referred to as spotted metal. Major advantages of using tin for pipes include its appearance, workability, and resistance to corrosion.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=cgDJaeFFUPoC|page=426}}|isbn = 978-0-415-94174-7|page = [https://archive.org/details/organencyclopedi0000unse/page/411 411]|chapter = Pipe Metal|editor = Robert Palmieri|date = 2006|publisher = Garland|location = New York|title = Encyclopedia of keyboard instruments|url = https://archive.org/details/organencyclopedi0000unse/page/411}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=I0h525OVoTgC|page=501}}|page=[https://archive.org/details/artoforganbuildi00auds/page/501 501]|title=The Art of Organ Building Audsley, George Ashdown|isbn=978-0-486-21315-6|chapter=Metal Pipes: And the Materials used in their Construction|publisher=Courier Dover Publications|date=1988|author=George Ashdown Audsley|url=https://archive.org/details/artoforganbuildi00auds/page/501}}</ref><!-- https://books.google.com/books?id=aU6giw-OdyUC&pg=PA32-->