Category Metal & Non-Metals

Tin plague can be really annoying and destructive. Captain Robert Scott’s was not the only expedition that was destroyed by tin plague. Tin plague had once devastated Napoleon’s plan. This phenomenon actually caused an army to lose a war.

In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia and marched to Moscow. However, his attempt to capture the city of Moscow failed, and one of the reasons given was that his soldiers were disheartened and uncomfortable because they could not stand the cold.

Napoleon had brought a million greatcoats for his troops, but these coats all had tin buttons. You can now imagine what happened, right? In winter, the tin buttons just crumbled away leaving Napoleon’s soldiers shivering and in no mood to fight!

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We know of humans, animals and plants falling sick. But is it possible for a metal to fall sick? What is tin plague? Let us now find out the answers to these questions.

Just like you become weak when falling sick, tin grows weak in chilly weather. In very cold weather, ordinary white tin turns to a powdery grey substance that disappears after some time. This phenomenon is known as tin plague. Tragically enough, tin plague had caused the death of many members of an expedition to the South Pole that was led by Captain Robert Scott. They carried kerosene in cans soldered with tin. Kerosene was important for the expedition as it could be used to start fires in the freezing climate.

In the extreme cold weather, tin turned to a powdery dust. As a result, the cans sprung leaks and all the kerosene just dribbled away. It was a horrifying tragedy, for it meant that the members of the expedition had no kerosene to start fires to cook and warm themselves; they died of hunger and cold.

If you coat some paper with silver chloride and expose it to light, you will find out that the silver chloride will turn black where the light falls on it. If you cover it with something like a leaf, the part covered by the leaf will remain white.

If compounds of silver like silver bromide, silver chloride or silver iodide are exposed to light, they break down to form tiny particles of silver that look black. An English scientist called William Talbot used this reaction to make photographs.

To develop a photograph, a thin layer of silver bromide is deposited on a sheet of photographic paper, and exposed to light. This produces a negative image from which the photograph is printed. Digital photography succeeded this technique which is no more in use now.

Silver is one of the most romantic and sought after precious metals. In many cultures, silver is an auspicious gift. Silver’s superior properties make it a highly desirable industrial component. Silver has both industrial and decorative uses.

Since a long time, silver has been used to make exquisite jewellery and elegant tableware. The mirror in which you see your face every day is coated with silver. In ancient times, wealthy people had mirrors and many other everyday objects made of pure silver.

Silver is a very good conductor of electricity, so it is widely used in industry, especially in electronics where it is used for printed circuit boards and electrical contacts. It is also used as a catalyst and is important in the production of solar energy. Another fascinating aspect of silver is the use of silver iodide in fighting tropical storms.

Silver played an important role in the history of Argentina, a South American country at the bottom of the continent. The name Argentina comes from the Latin ‘argentum’, meaning silver. ‘Argentina’ therefore means the ‘land of silver’. But how did this country get its name? Let us take a look.

In the early 1500s, Spanish conquistadors had heard tales about a land ruled by a White King that was rich in silver. They set on a voyage up a river in search of this wealthy kingdom. They discovered a group of native Indians, who presented them with so many silver objects that the river was named ‘Rio de la Plata’ or Silver River. In time, the country itself was called La Plata which means ‘silver’ in Spanish. When the rule of Spain ended, the name was changed to Argentina, from the Latin word ‘argentum.’

In olden days, silver was used to make coins in many kingdoms. The practice of using silver coins slowly gained popularity. But silver was a rare metal. Later it was found out that the cost of silver used for making these coins was a lot higher than the value of these coins. But, there was a solution to this problem-add another element to silver!

            Finally, after a lot of experiments, it was found out that copper could be mixed with silver to make coins that looked like silver, which was much cheaper than the older practice. Since then, copper-silver alloy is used to make silver coins.

Today, if a silver coin is actually made of pure silver, the metal would cost more than 20 times the value of the coin. However coins of pure silver are still available. People buy them as an investment.