materialsscienceandengineering:
at around 13.2 degrees Celsius, β-form white tin transforms to α-form grey tin due to tin pests (or tin disease). The transformation process requires high activation energy but very low temperatures and the presence of Germanium can aid in initiation.
I need a 39 page paper on explaining why this happens… Or a wikipedia page will do too i mean… Off to google.
The structure of the atoms are actually changing. Tin has multiple allotropes, and at certain temperatures (and pressures) the crystal structure, or arrangement of the atoms, shifts from one form into another. β tin is malleable but α tin is a brittle solid, which is why the metal falls apart. Several other elements also exhibit allotropy - the most well known of which is probably carbon (with forms such as diamond and graphite), but few shift so readily close to room temperature and pressure.
This is crazy.
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