Identifying tin

Jevon Thistlewood <jevonthistlewood [at] hotmail__com> writes

>Is there a chemical test or other accessible means for the
>identification of Tin?

The usual test employs Cacotheline as an indicator, (nitrobrucine
hydrate), which is a chemical relative of strychnine available from
Fluka. It could be employed to identify tin leaf or lead tin yellow.
The Tin sample is first oxidised with hydrochloric acid and zinc,
then a test drop is applied to a filter paper impregnated with a
0.6% solution of Cacotheline in water. A red/violet circle with a
yellow edge indicates tin. This information comes from the "BDH spot
test outfit handbook", 1980. I haven't seen it work on a real sample
because I haven't yet sampled any tin.

Michael Pearce
Historic Scotland


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 15:15
                 Distributed: Wednesday, August 8, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-15-15-008
                                  ***