What Is Tin Cry? Explanation of the Term and How to Hear It

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Question: What Is Tin Cry?

To hear tin cry, simply bend a piece of tin metal. The sound is faint, so listen closely! (Jurii))
To hear tin cry, simply bend a piece of tin metal. The sound is faint, so listen closely! (Jurii)

Answer: Tin is the metal that is atomic number 50 on the periodic table. Tin cry is the sound that is made when a bar of tin metal is bent. The sound is caused by the shearing of the crystals in the metal. When tin solidifies, crystal twinning occurs, where separate crystals share lattice points and overgrow each other. The tin cry actually is a relatively soft sound, sort of a crackling whine.

How to Make Tin Cry

You can make a bar of tin cry simply by bending it. The sound will be emitted up to the point at which the metal breaks. Tin has a relatively low melting point, 232 °C, so you can melt the tin and allow it to recrystallize to repeat the process again and again.

Other Metals That Cry

The cry is a characteristic of solid tin, but the phenomenon is not exclusive to this element. Niobium, indium and gallium will cry when bent as the crystals shear against each other.