1.72 Covalent radius 1.41 Density 7.3 Atomic volume 16.3 Melting point 505.12 Oxidation states 4,2 Boiling point 2543 Stable isotopes 10 Heat of vapor. At very low temperatures, Tin finds extensive use as a protective layer for mild steel.
Tin plating is done by dipping clean sheets of mild steel into molten tin, or by electroplating.
Copper is also sometimes clad with tin in this way. Alloys of tin, lead, antimony and copper find application in surface contact bearings. They contain small hard crystals of a compound such as SnSb embedded in a soft matrix of tin or lead. The good bearing properties result from orientation of the hard crystals to present flat surfaces at the bearing surface. Reference Pauling Ch.