Alloy are relatively similar in size, the atom exchange method usually happens, where some of the atoms composing the metallic crystals are substituted with atoms of the other constituent. This is called a "substitutional alloy". Examples of substitutional alloys include bronze and brass, in which some of the copper atoms are substituted with either tin or zinc atoms respectively. In the case of the interstitial mechanism, one atom is usually much smaller than the other and can not successfully substitute for the other type of atom in the crystals of the base metal. Instead, the smaller atoms become trapped in the
Tin(II) chloride to maintain the equilibrium towards the left-hand side (using Le Chatelier's principle). Solutions of SnCl are also unstable towards oxidation by the air: This can be prevented by storing the solution over lumps of tin metal. There are many such cases where tin(II) chloride acts as a reducing agent, reducing silver and gold salts to the metal, and iron(III) salts to iron(II), for example: It also reduces copper(II) to copper(I). Solutions of tin(II) chloride can also serve simply as a source of Sn ions, which can form other tin(II) compounds via precipitation reactions. For example, reaction with sodium sulfide produces