Tantalum
Element 73 · Transition Metal
Tantalum is a heavy, gray-blue metal famous for shrugging off chemical attack: even strong acids barely touch it, thanks to a thin protective oxide film. It is ductile, melts above 3000 °C, and favors the +5 oxidation state.
Its biggest market is electronics — tantalum capacitors store charge in phones, laptops, and cars in astonishingly small packages. Because the body does not reject it, tantalum also makes surgical implants, and its carbide is among the hardest materials known.
Key facts
| Atomic number | 73 |
|---|---|
| Atomic weight | 180.95 |
| Category | Transition Metal |
| Group / Period | 5 / 6 |
| Block | d |
| Electron configuration | 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d10 5p6 6s2 4f14 5d3 |
| Common oxidation states | +5 |
| State at STP | Solid |
| Electronegativity | 1.50 |
| Density | 16.69 g/cm³ |
| Melting point | 3017 °C |
| Boiling point | 5458 °C |
Occurrence
Tantalum comes from the minerals tantalite and columbite, often mined alongside niobium. Major sources include Australia, Brazil, and central Africa.
Applications
Capacitors in phones and electronics
Surgical implants and bone plates
Chemical processing equipment
Superalloys and carbides
Common compounds
- tantalum pentoxide
- tantalum carbide
Tantalum is named after Tantalus of Greek myth — early chemists found it ‘tantalizingly’ difficult to isolate from its ores.
Data source: IUPAC standard atomic weights 2021