Niobium and Tin - Comparison - Properties

This article contains comparison of key thermal and atomic properties of niobium and tin, two comparable chemical elements from the periodic table. It also contains basic descriptions and applications of both elements. Niobium vs Tin.

niobium and tin - comparison

Compare niobium with another element

Compare tin with another element

Niobium and Tin – About Elements

Niobium

Niobium is a soft, grey, ductile transition metal, often found in the minerals pyrochlore (the main commercial source for niobium) and columbite.

Tin

Tin is a post-transition metal in group 14 of the periodic table. It is obtained chiefly from the mineral cassiterite, which contains tin dioxide. The first alloy used on a large scale was bronze, made of tin and copper, from as early as 3000 BC.

Niobium in Periodic Table

Tin in Periodic Table

Source: www.luciteria.com

Niobium and Tin – Applications

Niobium

Niobium consumption is dominated by its use as additive to high strength low alloy steel and stainless steel for oil and gas pipelines, car and truck bodies, architectural requirements, tool steels, ships hulls, railroad tracks. However, there are a number of other applications for niobium metal and its compounds. Although niobium has many applications the majority is used in the production of high-grade structural steel. The second largest application for niobium is in nickel-based superalloys. Niobium-tin alloys are used as superconducting magnets.

Tin

The largest single application of tin is in the manufacture of tinplate (steel sheet coated with tin), which accounts for approximately 40% of total world tin consumption. Tin bonds readily to iron and steel to prevent corrosion. Tin-plated steel containers are widely used for food preservation, and this forms a large part of the market for metallic tin. Tinning is the process of thinly coating sheets of wrought iron or steel with tin, and the resulting product is known as tinplate. The term is also widely used for the different process of coating a metal with solder before soldering. There are two processes for the tinning of the black plates: hot-dipping and electroplating.

Niobium and Tin – Comparison in Table

Element	Niobium	Tin
Density	8.57 g/cm3	7.31 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength	275 MPa	220 MPa
Yield Strength	70 MPa	N/A
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity	105 GPa	50 GPa
Mohs Scale	6	1.65
Brinell Hardness	740 MPa	50 MPa
Vickers Hardness	1300 MPa	N/A
Melting Point	2477 °C	231.93 °C
Boiling Point	4744 °C	2602 °C
Thermal Conductivity	53.7 W/mK	67 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient	7.3 µm/mK	22 µm/mK
Specific Heat	0.26 J/g K	0.227 J/g K
Heat of Fusion	26.4 kJ/mol	7.029 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization	682 kJ/mol	295.8 kJ/mol