Post-transition metal packing structure. Tin forms Zintl phases such as NaSn, BaSn, KSn and CaSn. It has good corrosion resistance in air on account of forming a thin protective oxide layer. Pure tin has no structural uses. It is used in lead-free solders, and as a hardening agent in alloys of other metals, such as copper, lead, titanium and zinc. Lead is a soft metal (MH 1.5, but hardens close to melting) which, in many cases, is unable to support its own weight. It has a close-packed structure (BCN 12) but an abnormally large inter-atomic distance that has been attributed to partial
Post-transition metal sulfide (AsS). Arsenic forms a series of anionic arsenates such as NaAsO and PbHAsO, and Zintl phases such as NaAs, CaAs and SrAs. Antimony is a soft (MH 3.0) and brittle semi-metallic element. It is commonly regarded as a metalloid, or by some other authors as either a metal or a non-metal. It exhibits poor electrical conductivity which, like a metal, decreases with temperature. It has a relatively open and partially covalent crystalline structure (BCN 3+3). Antimony forms covalent bonds with most other elements. The oxide in its preferred oxidation state (SbO, +3) is amphoteric. Antimony forms a series of