Tantalum

General properties
Name, symbol, number	tantalum, Ta, 73
Element category	transition metal
Group, period, block	5, 6, d
Standard atomic weight	180.94788
Electron configuration	[Xe] 4f14 5d3 6s2 2, 8, 18, 32, 11, 2
History
Discovery	Anders Gustaf Ekeberg (1802)
Recognized as a distinct element by	Heinrich Rose (1844)

Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as tantalium, the name comes from Tantalus, a character from Greek mythology. Tantalum is a rare, hard, blue-gray, lustrous transition metal that is highly corrosion resistant. It is part of the refractory metals group, which are widely used as minor component in alloys. The chemical inertness of tantalum makes it a valuable substance for laboratory equipment and a substitute for platinum, but its main use today is in tantalum capacitors in electronic equipment such as mobile phones, DVD players, video game systems and computers. Tantalum, always together with the chemically similar niobium, occurs in the minerals tantalite, columbite and coltan (a mix of columbite and tantalite).

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