Tin(II) chloride facts for kids
Tin(II) chloride, also called stannous chloride, is a chemical compound. It's made of tin and chloride parts. Its chemical formula is SnCl2. The tin in it has a special electrical charge of +2.
What It's Like
Tin(II) chloride is a clear, crystal-like solid. It's a "reducing agent," which means it can help other chemicals gain electrons during a reaction. It's not good for mollusks like clams and oysters because it can be harmful to them.
When it mixes with water, it forms a white substance called tin(II) oxide hydrate and a strong liquid called hydrochloric acid. That's why tin(II) chloride is usually kept dissolved in hydrochloric acid to stop this reaction.
If it touches air, it can react with oxygen to change into other tin compounds. It also reacts with chemicals containing silver or gold, turning them into pure silver or gold metal. It can even change "ferric" compounds into "ferrous" compounds, which is another type of chemical change.
When you add a base to tin(II) chloride, it first forms a white solid. If you add more base, this white solid dissolves, and the liquid becomes clear again.
How It's Made
You can make tin(II) chloride by letting tin metal react with hydrochloric acid. It's a simple chemical reaction!
What It's Used For
Tin(II) chloride has many uses:
- Coating Metal: It's used to put a thin layer of tin onto steel, a process called electroplating. This helps protect the steel.
- Coloring Fabrics: It helps with coloring textiles, making the dyes stick better to the fabric.
- Making Mirrors: It's used to help create the shiny silver coating on mirrors.
- Helping Reactions: In some plastics, it acts as a catalyst. A catalyst is something that speeds up a chemical reaction without being used up itself.
- Testing for Mercury: It used to be a way to test for mercury. If you added it to a clear liquid with mercury, a white solid would appear. If you added even more, a black solid of pure mercury metal would form!
- Finding Gold: If you put tin(II) chloride into a liquid that has gold in it, the liquid turns a bright purple color.
- In Chemistry Labs: In organic chemistry, it's often used as a reducing agent to help change one chemical into another.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Ball-and-stick models of the crystal structure of SnCl2
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How SnCl2 helps change a chemical group called "nitro"
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See also
In Spanish: Cloruro de estaño(II) para niños
