Its Latin name ‘Stannum’ gave it the chemical symbol Sn. The lids of the early tin cans were typically sealed by soldering the top and bottom of the can with a tin-lead alloy. We know this element by the name tin. Unlike steel, tin is not affected by the acids in food, so that a layer of tin placed on steel sheet protects the steel in the can from corrosion. Tin cans also allowed people to taste new food for the first time, including imported corned beef and things like peaches and tropical fruits. "The tin can's move from the battlefield to the kitchen was a revolution," says Andrew F Smith, the author of Souper Tomatoes: The Story of America's Favourite Food. Each tin is hand-cut and formed into a unique switch plate or outlet cover that is sure to match any decor! This allows food to be shelf-stable and safe to eat for 1–5 years or longer. 90% of all drinks cans in the UK are made from aluminium. Carrying 50 protons and 50 electrons, it has an atomic number of 50. Canning allowed foods to be harvested at peak times and eaten during any season. Top 10 facts about tins THIS is Canned Food Week and you can find out all about it at www.cannedfood.co.uk. Collecting tin cans helped the U.S. win World War II, and gave kids spending money, too. Tin Cans/Aluminium Recycling Facts. Aluminum and Tin Cans will Stick Around for Decades or Longer. If you are looking for unique and new switch plates for your home or business, please view our entire site! Tin cans also played a large role in the shift from agriculture to the Industrial Revolution. We make switch plates and outlet covers from vintage tin and collectible advertising tins and baking pans that compliment any style! Meanwhile here are some facts, fresh from the can. An aluminum can, however, can take up to 200 to 500 years to decompose. All can be melted down and used to make the same (or other) products again. Read this ScienceStruck article for some interesting facts about tin. Lead is extremely poisonous if ingested and there was a lead-related scandal in 1845 concerning the Arctic expedition of Sir John Franklin, whose crew members suffered from … Used aluminium drink cans can be recycled and back on supermarket shelves as new drink cans in as little as 60 days. All the more reason to recycle cans. Of the 24 million tonnes of aluminium produced annually in the UK, 51,000 tonnes ends up as packaging for food and drinks. A tin can will decompose in about 50 years since it’s composed of flimsier metal. A tin can telephone is a type of acoustic (non-electrical) speech-transmitting device made up of two tin cans, paper cups or similarly shaped items attached to either end of a taut string or wire.. Facts About Metals It is malleable and ductile, which means it can be molded into wires and flattened to make sheets. Every minute of every day, an average of 113,200 aluminium cans are recycled. Cans are heated to kill harmful bacteria and prevent spoilage. 6. Other articles where Tin can is discussed: metallurgy: Barrier protection: …of this idea is the tin can. It takes 95% less energy to recycle aluminium cans than it does to make new ones. Tests with Pabst beer were successful. A lesson in history before "recycling" became fashionable. By the early 1930s, wine bottle tin manufacturers had developed a can strong enough to withstand the pressure of a poured beer. They also finally solved the can lining problem by using a resilient plastic called Vinylite.