Tantalum is a hard metal named after Tantalus from Greek mythology. It is extracted from a rare mineral called tantalite. This hard metal is not harmful to the human body, so it is used to manufacture artificial joints and other body implants. Tantalum powder is used in capacitors. Because of its high mechanical strength, it is used to harden watches made of precious (softer) metals. Tantalum is also used to make strong turbine blades that do not corrode.
Summary of properties (Ta)
| Atomic weight | 180.94788(2) |
| Discoverer (year) | Ekeberg, Anders Gustav (1802) |
| Natural form | metallic solid (body centered cubic) |
| Electron configuration | [Xe] 4f 14 5d3 6s2 |
| Melting point (ºC) | 2996 |
| Boiling point (ºC) | 5425 |
| Abundance in earth's crust (ppm) | 2 |
| Isotope (abundance) | 180Ta (0.012), 181Ta (99.988) |
| Density g/cm3 | 16.65 |
| Van der Waals radius (pm) | 222 |
| Covalent radius (pm) | 158 |
| Electronegativity (Pauling) | 1.5 |
| Vaporization enthalpy (kJ/mol) | 753.10 |
| Enthalpy of fusion (kJ/mol) | 36.57 |
| Specific heat capacity (J/g·K) at 25ºC and 1 atm | 0.14 |
| Thermal conductivity (W/cm·K) at 25ºC and 1 atm | 0.580 |
| Oxidation state | +5 |
| Electron affinity (eV) | 0.32 |
| 1st Ionization potential (eV) | 7.5496 |
