Question

Stannic ion takes up _____ electron(s) to convert to stannous ion.

Answer 1

Tin:

• Tin is a chemical element with chemical symbol ($\mathbf{Sn}$) and an atomic number of 50.
• It is soft silvery white metal widely used for plating, coating and polishing because of its high resistance to corrosion.
• It belongs to the carbon family of group 14 of periodic table and can exist in variable valency of 2 and 4 called stannous ion (${\mathbf{Sn}}^{\mathbf{2}\mathbf{+}}$) and stannic ion (${\mathbf{Sn}}^{\mathbf{4}\mathbf{+}}$) respectively.
• The variable valency is based on the number of electrons gained or lost in different compounds.

Stannic ion:

• Tin 4⁺ is an ion of tin which carries a positive charge of 4 and is called a stannic ion.

Stannous ion:

• Tin 2⁺ is an ion which carries a positive charge of 2 and is called a stannous ion.

Stannic ion has an oxidation state of 4⁺ and it needs two electrons to get converted to the stannous ion of oxidation state 2⁺ via redox reaction given as;

${\mathbf{Sn}}^{\mathbf{4}\mathbf{+}}\mathbf{\left(}\mathbf{aq}\mathbf{\right)}\mathbf{}\mathbf{+}\mathbf{}\mathbf{2}\mathbf{}{\mathbf{e}}^{\mathbf{-}}\mathbf{}\mathbf{\to }\mathbf{}{\mathbf{Sn}}^{\mathbf{2}\mathbf{+}}\mathbf{\left(}\mathbf{aq}\mathbf{\right)}$

Thus, stannic ion takes up two-electron(s) to convert to stannous ion.