73 hafnium ← tantalum → tungsten Nb ↑ Ta ↓ Db Periodic Table - Extended Periodic Table
General
Name, Symbol, Number	tantalum, Ta, 73
Chemical series	transition metals
Group, Period, Block	5, 6, d
Appearance	gray blue
Standard atomic weight	180.94788(2)  g·mol−1
Electron configuration	[Xe] 4f14 5d3 6s2
Electrons per shell	2, 8, 18, 32, 11, 2
Physical properties
Phase	solid
Density (near r.t.)	16. Hafnium (ˈhæfniəm is a Chemical element that has the symbol Hf and Atomic number 72 Tungsten (ˈtʌŋstən also known as wolfram (/ˈwʊlfrəm/ is a Chemical element that has the symbol W and Atomic number 74 Niobium (naɪˈoʊbiəm or columbium (/kəˈlʌmbiəm/ is a Chemical element that has the symbol Nb and Atomic number 41 Dubnium (ˈduːbniəm is a Chemical element in the Periodic table that has the symbol Db and Atomic number 105 This is a typical display of the periodic table of the elements and contains the symbol and Atomic number of each element Wikipedia talkFeatured lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below -->This is a list of Chemical elements, sorted by name Wikipedia talkFeatured lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below -->This is a list of chemical elements by symbol, including the A table of Chemical elements ordered by Atomic number and color coded according to type of element In Chemistry a group, also known as a family, is a vertical column in the Periodic table of the Chemical elements There are 18 groups in In Chemistry, the term transition metal (sometimes also called a transition element) has two possible meanings It commonly refers to any element in In Chemistry a group, also known as a family, is a vertical column in the Periodic table of the Chemical elements There are 18 groups in In the Periodic table of the elements, a period is a horizontal row of the table A block of the Periodic table of elements is a set of adjacent groups The respective highest-energy electrons in each element in a block belong to the same Atomic Biological occurrences Of the group 5 elements only vanadium has been identified as playing a role in the biological chemistry of living systems it is involved in some of the A period 6 element is one of the Chemical elements in the sixth row (or period) of the periodic table of the elements, including the Lanthanides The d-block of the periodic table of the elements consists of those Periodic table groups that contain elements in which in the atomic ground state the highest-energy The atomic mass (ma is the Mass of an atom most often expressed in unified atomic mass units The atomic mass may be considered to be the total mass To help compare different orders of magnitude, the following list describes various Mass levels between 10&minus36&thinsp kg and 1053&thinspkg In Atomic physics and Quantum chemistry, electron configuration is the arrangement of Electrons in an Atom, Molecule, or other Xenon (ˈzɛnɒn or) is a Chemical element represented by the symbol Xe. The electron is a fundamental Subatomic particle that was identified and assigned the negative charge in 1897 by J An electron shell may be crudely thought of as an Orbit followed by Electrons around an Atom nucleus. In the Physical sciences a phase is a Set of states of a macroscopic physical system that have relatively uniform chemical composition and physical properties A solid' object is in the States of matter characterized by resistance to Deformation and changes of Volume. The density of a material is defined as its Mass per unit Volume: \rho = \frac{m}{V} Different materials usually have different Room temperature (also referred to as ambient temperature) is a common term to denote a certain Temperature within enclosed space at which humans are accustomed 69  g·cm−3
Liquid density at m.p.	15  g·cm−3
Melting point	3290 K (3017 °C, 5463 °F)
Boiling point	5731 K (5458 °C, 9856 °F)
Heat of fusion	36. The density of a material is defined as its Mass per unit Volume: \rho = \frac{m}{V} Different materials usually have different The melting point of a solid is the temperature range at which it changes state from solid to Liquid. The melting point of a solid is the temperature range at which it changes state from solid to Liquid. The kelvin (symbol K) is a unit increment of Temperature and is one of the seven SI base units The Kelvin scale is a thermodynamic The Celsius Temperature scale was previously known as the centigrade scale. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736 a German Physicist who proposed it in 1724 The boiling point of a liquid is the temperature at which the Vapor pressure of the liquid equals the environmental pressure surrounding the liquid The kelvin (symbol K) is a unit increment of Temperature and is one of the seven SI base units The Kelvin scale is a thermodynamic The Celsius Temperature scale was previously known as the centigrade scale. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736 a German Physicist who proposed it in 1724 The standard Enthalpy of fusion (symbol \Delta{}H_{fus} also known as the heat of fusion or specific melting heat, is the amount of 57  kJ·mol−1
Heat of vaporization	732. The joule per mole (symbol J·mol-1 is an SI derived unit of energy per amount of material The enthalpy of vaporization, (symbol \Delta{}_{v}H also known as the heat of vaporization or heat of evaporation, is the Energy required 8  kJ·mol−1
Specific heat capacity	(25 °C) 25. The joule per mole (symbol J·mol-1 is an SI derived unit of energy per amount of material Specific heat capacity, also known simply as specific heat, is the measure of the heat energy required to increase the Temperature of a unit quantity 36  J·mol−1·K−1
Vapor pressure P(Pa) 1 10 100 1 k 10 k 100 k at T(K) 3297 3597 3957 4395 4939 5634
Atomic properties
Crystal structure	cubic body centered
Oxidation states	5, 4, 3 (mildly acidic oxide)
Electronegativity	1. Vapor pressure (also known as equilibrium vapor pressure or saturation vapor pressure) is the Pressure of a Vapor in equilibrium In Mineralogy and Crystallography, a crystal structure is a unique arrangement of Atoms in a Crystal. In Chemistry, the oxidation state is an indicator of the degree of Oxidation of an Atom in a Chemical compound. In Computer science, ACID ( Atomicity Consistency Isolation Durability) is a set of properties that guarantee that Database transactions are " Electronegativity " is the opposite of " Electropositivity," which describes an element's ability to donate electrons 5 (Pauling scale)
Ionization energies	1st: 761 kJ/mol
	2nd: 1500 kJ/mol
Atomic radius	145  pm
Atomic radius (calc. The ionization potential, ionization energy or EI of an Atom or Molecule is the Energy required to remove an Electron The joule per mole (symbol J·mol-1 is an SI derived unit of energy per amount of material Atomic radius, and more generally the size of an atom, is not a precisely defined Physical quantity, nor is it constant in all circumstances A picometre ( American spelling: picometer, symbol pm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one trillionth )	200  pm
Covalent radius	138  pm
Miscellaneous
Magnetic ordering	no data
Electrical resistivity	(20 °C) 131 n Ω·m
Thermal conductivity	(300 K) 57. The covalent radius, r cov is a measure of the size of Atom which forms part of a Covalent bond. In Physics, magnetism is one of the Phenomena by which Materials exert attractive or repulsive Forces on other Materials. Electrical resistivity (also known as specific electrical resistance) is a measure of how strongly a material opposes the flow of Electric current. In Physics, thermal conductivity, k is the property of a material that indicates its ability to conduct Heat. 5  W·m−1·K−1
Thermal expansion	(25 °C) 6. When the Temperature of a substance changes the energy that is stored in the Intermolecular bonds between atoms changes 3  µm·m−1·K−1
Speed of sound (thin rod)	(20 °C) 3400 m/s
Young's modulus	186  GPa
Shear modulus	69  GPa
Bulk modulus	200  GPa
Poisson ratio	0. Sound is a vibration that travels through an elastic medium as a Wave. In Solid mechanics, Young's modulus (E is a measure of the Stiffness of an isotropic elastic material In Materials science, shear modulus or modulus of rigidity, denoted by G, or sometimes S or μ, is defined as the ratio of Shear Poisson's ratio ( ν) named after Simeon Poisson, is the ratio of the relative contraction strain, or transverse strain (normal to 34
Mohs hardness	6. The Mohs scale of mineral hardness characterizes the scratch resistance of various Minerals through the ability of a harder material to scratch a softer material 5
Vickers hardness	873  MPa
Brinell hardness	800  MPa
CAS registry number	7440-25-7
Selected isotopes
Main article: Isotopes of tantalum iso NA half-life DM DE (MeV) DP 177Ta syn 56. The Vickers hardness test was developed in 1924 by Smith and Sandland as an alternative method to measure the Hardness of materials The Brinell scale characterizes the indentation Hardness of materials through the scale of penetration of an indenter loaded on a material test-piece CAS registry numbers are unique numerical identifiers for Chemical compounds Polymers biological sequences mixtures and Alloys They are also referred to Natural Tantalum ( Ta) consists of two Isotopes 180mTa (0012% and 181Ta (99 Isotopes (Greek isos = "equal" tópos = "site place" are any of the different types of atoms ( Nuclides In Chemistry, natural abundance (NA refers to the abundance Isotopes of a Chemical element as naturally found on a planet Half-Life (computer-game page here It's already listed in the disambiguation page Radioactive decay is the process in which an unstable Atomic nucleus loses energy by emitting ionizing particles and Radiation. The decay energy is the Energy released by a Nuclear decay. The energy difference of the Reactants is often written as Q: where Q In Nuclear physics, a decay product, also known as a daughter product, daughter isotope or daughter nuclide, is a Nuclide A synthetic radioisotope is a Radionuclide that is not found in nature no natural process or mechanism exists which produces it or it is so unstable that it decays away in 56 h ε 1. The hour (symbol h) is a unit of Time. It is not an SI unit but is accepted for use with the SI Electron capture (sometimes called inverse beta decay) is a Decay mode for Isotopes that will occur when there are too many Protons in the 166 177Hf 178Ta syn 2. Hafnium (ˈhæfniəm is a Chemical element that has the symbol Hf and Atomic number 72 A synthetic radioisotope is a Radionuclide that is not found in nature no natural process or mechanism exists which produces it or it is so unstable that it decays away in 36 h ε 1. The hour (symbol h) is a unit of Time. It is not an SI unit but is accepted for use with the SI Electron capture (sometimes called inverse beta decay) is a Decay mode for Isotopes that will occur when there are too many Protons in the 910 178Hf 179Ta syn 1. Hafnium (ˈhæfniəm is a Chemical element that has the symbol Hf and Atomic number 72 A synthetic radioisotope is a Radionuclide that is not found in nature no natural process or mechanism exists which produces it or it is so unstable that it decays away in 82 a ε 0. A year (from Old English gēr) is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the Orbit of the Earth around the Sun Electron capture (sometimes called inverse beta decay) is a Decay mode for Isotopes that will occur when there are too many Protons in the 110 179Hf 180Ta syn 8. Hafnium (ˈhæfniəm is a Chemical element that has the symbol Hf and Atomic number 72 A synthetic radioisotope is a Radionuclide that is not found in nature no natural process or mechanism exists which produces it or it is so unstable that it decays away in 125 h ε 0. The hour (symbol h) is a unit of Time. It is not an SI unit but is accepted for use with the SI Electron capture (sometimes called inverse beta decay) is a Decay mode for Isotopes that will occur when there are too many Protons in the 854 180Hf 180Ta syn 8. Hafnium (ˈhæfniəm is a Chemical element that has the symbol Hf and Atomic number 72 A synthetic radioisotope is a Radionuclide that is not found in nature no natural process or mechanism exists which produces it or it is so unstable that it decays away in 125 h β- 0. The hour (symbol h) is a unit of Time. It is not an SI unit but is accepted for use with the SI In Nuclear physics, beta decay is a type of Radioactive decay in which a Beta particle (an Electron or a Positron) is emitted 708 180W 180mTa 0. Tungsten (ˈtʌŋstən also known as wolfram (/ˈwʊlfrəm/ is a Chemical element that has the symbol W and Atomic number 74 A nuclear isomer is a Metastable state of an Atomic nucleus caused by the excitation of one or more of its Nucleons A nuclear isomer occupies 012% >1. 2×1015 y (not observed) ε 0. A year (from Old English gēr) is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the Orbit of the Earth around the Sun Electron capture (sometimes called inverse beta decay) is a Decay mode for Isotopes that will occur when there are too many Protons in the 929 180Hf β- 0. Hafnium (ˈhæfniəm is a Chemical element that has the symbol Hf and Atomic number 72 In Nuclear physics, beta decay is a type of Radioactive decay in which a Beta particle (an Electron or a Positron) is emitted 783 180W IT 0. Tungsten (ˈtʌŋstən also known as wolfram (/ˈwʊlfrəm/ is a Chemical element that has the symbol W and Atomic number 74 Gamma rays (denoted as &gamma) are a form of Electromagnetic radiation or light emission of frequencies produced by sub-atomic particle interactions 075 180Ta 181Ta 99. 988% 181Ta is stable with 108 neutrons 182Ta syn 114. Stable isotopes are chemical isotopes that are not Radioactive (to current knowledge This article is a discussion of neutrons in general For the specific case of a neutron found outside the nucleus see Free neutron. A synthetic radioisotope is a Radionuclide that is not found in nature no natural process or mechanism exists which produces it or it is so unstable that it decays away in 43 d β- 1. A day (symbol d is a unit of Time equivalent to 24 Hours and the duration of a single Rotation of planet Earth with respect to the In Nuclear physics, beta decay is a type of Radioactive decay in which a Beta particle (an Electron or a Positron) is emitted 814 182W 183Ta syn 5. Tungsten (ˈtʌŋstən also known as wolfram (/ˈwʊlfrəm/ is a Chemical element that has the symbol W and Atomic number 74 A synthetic radioisotope is a Radionuclide that is not found in nature no natural process or mechanism exists which produces it or it is so unstable that it decays away in 1 d β- 1. A day (symbol d is a unit of Time equivalent to 24 Hours and the duration of a single Rotation of planet Earth with respect to the In Nuclear physics, beta decay is a type of Radioactive decay in which a Beta particle (an Electron or a Positron) is emitted 070 183W
References

Tantalum (pronounced /ˈtæntələm/) (formerly tantalium /tænˈtæliəm/) is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Tungsten (ˈtʌŋstən also known as wolfram (/ˈwʊlfrəm/ is a Chemical element that has the symbol W and Atomic number 74 Recommended values for many properties of the elements together with various references are collected on these data pages A chemical element is a type of Atom that is distinguished by its Atomic number; that is by the number of Protons in its nucleus. See also List of elements by atomic number In Chemistry and Physics, the atomic number (also known as the proton A rare, hard, blue-gray, lustrous, transition metal, tantalum is highly corrosion-resistant and occurs naturally in the mineral tantalite. Lustre (or luster) is a description of the way light interacts with the surface of a Crystal, rock, or Mineral. In Chemistry, the term transition metal (sometimes also called a transition element) has two possible meanings It commonly refers to any element in A mineral is a naturally occurring substance formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition a highly ordered atomic structure and specific Tantalite, ] Mn) Ta 2 O 6] is a Mineral that is close to Columbite.

Contents 1 Characteristics 2 Applications 3 History 4 Occurrence 5 Compounds 6 Isotopes 7 Precautions 8 References 9 External links

Characteristics

Tantalum is dark, dense, ductile, very hard, easily fabricated, and highly conductive of heat and electricity. The metal is renowned for its resistance to corrosion by acids; in fact, at temperatures below 150 °C tantalum is almost completely immune to attack by the normally aggressive aqua regia. Corrosion means the breaking down of essential properties in a material due to Chemical reactions with its surroundings In Computer science, ACID ( Atomicity Consistency Isolation Durability) is a set of properties that guarantee that Database transactions are The Celsius Temperature scale was previously known as the centigrade scale. Aqua regia ( Latin for royal water) is a highly corrosive fuming yellow or red solution It can be dissolved with hydrofluoric acid or acidic solutions containing the fluoride ion and sulfur trioxide, as well as with a solution of potassium hydroxide. Hydrofluoric acid is a Solution of Hydrogen fluoride in Water. Fluoride is the reduced form of Fluorine. Both organic and Inorganic compounds containing the element fluorine are considered fluorides Sulfur trioxide (also spelled sulphur trioxide) is the chemical compound with the formula SO3 Potassium hydroxide is the Inorganic compound with the formula K[[hydroxide OH]] Tantalum's high melting point of 3017 °C (boiling point 5458 °C) is exceeded only by tungsten and rhenium for metals, and carbon. Tungsten (ˈtʌŋstən also known as wolfram (/ˈwʊlfrəm/ is a Chemical element that has the symbol W and Atomic number 74 Rhenium (ˈriːniəm is a Chemical element with the symbol Re and Atomic number 75 Carbon (kɑɹbən is a Chemical element with the symbol C and its Atomic number is 6

Applications

The major use for tantalum, as the metal powder, is in the production of electronic components, mainly capacitors and some high-power resistors^[1]. Tantalum electrolytic capacitors exploit the tendency of tantalum to form a protective oxide surface layer, using tantalum powder, pressed into a pellet shape, as one "plate" of the capacitor, the oxide as the dielectric, and an electrolytic solution or conductive solid as the other "plate". Tantalum capacitors are a form of Electrolytic capacitor. However some forms of them are non-polar containing two capacitors connected in series (negative to negative Because the dielectric layer can be very thin (thinner than the similar layer in, for instance, an aluminium electrolytic capacitor), a high capacitance can be achieved in a small volume. Because of the size and weight advantages, tantalum capacitors are attractive for portable telephones, pagers, personal computers, and automotive electronics.

Tantalum is also used to produce a variety of alloys that have high melting points, are strong and have good ductility. Alloyed with other metals, it is also used in making carbide tools for metalworking equipment and in the production of superalloys for jet engine components, chemical process equipment, nuclear reactors, and missile parts. This article is a subarticle of Nuclear power. A nuclear reactor is a device in which Nuclear chain reactions are initiated controlled Because of its ductility, tantalum can be drawn into fine wires or filaments, which are used for evaporating metals such as aluminium.

Due to the fact that it resists attack by body fluids and is nonirritating, tantalum is widely used in making surgical instruments and implants. For example, porous tantalum coatings are used in the construction of orthopedic implants due to tantalum's ability to form a direct bond to hard tissue. The oxide is used to make special high refractive index glass for camera lenses. The refractive index (or index of Refraction) of a medium is a measure for how much the speed of light (or other waves such as sound waves is reduced inside the medium Glass in the common sense refers to a Hard, Brittle, transparent Solid, such as that used for Windows many A camera is a device used to capture images either as still Photographs or as sequences of moving images ( Movies or Videos. The metal is also used to make vacuum furnace parts. A vacuum furnace is a type of Furnace that can heat materials typically metals to very high temperatures and carry out processes such as Brazing, Sintering

Shaped charge and explosively formed penetrator liners have been constructed from tantalum. A shaped charge is an Explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the explosive's energy An explosively formed penetrator (EFP is a type of Petard also known as an explosively formed projectile, a self-forging warhead, or a self-forging

History

Tantalum was discovered in Sweden in 1802 by Anders Ekeberg and isolated in 1820 by Jöns Berzelius. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Year 1802 ( MDCCCII) was a Common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar or a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Anders Gustaf Ekeberg ( Stockholm, Sweden, January 16, 1767 &ndash Uppsala, Sweden, February 11, 1813 Year 1820 ( MDCCCXX) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Friherre Jöns Jacob Berzelius (20 August 1779 &ndash 7 August 1848 was a Swedish chemist Many contemporary chemists believed niobium and tantalum were the same elements until 1844 and later 1866 when researchers showed that niobic and tantalic acids were different compounds. Niobium (naɪˈoʊbiəm or columbium (/kəˈlʌmbiəm/ is a Chemical element that has the symbol Nb and Atomic number 41 Year 1844 ( MDCCCXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Year 1866 ( MDCCCLXVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Early investigators were only able to isolate impure metal and the first relatively pure ductile metal was produced by Werner von Bolton in 1903. Year 1903 ( MCMIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar or a Common year starting Wires made with tantalum metal were used for light bulbs until tungsten replaced it. The incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is a source of electric Light that works by Incandescence, (a general Tungsten (ˈtʌŋstən also known as wolfram (/ˈwʊlfrəm/ is a Chemical element that has the symbol W and Atomic number 74

Its name is derived from the character Tantalus, father of Niobe in Greek mythology, who was punished after death by being condemned to stand knee-deep in water with perfect fruit growing above his head, both of which eternally tantalized him - if he bent to drink the water, it drained below the level he could reach, and if he reached for the fruit, the branches moved out of his grasp. In Greek mythology Tantalus ( Greek Τάνταλος was a son of Zeus and the Nymph Plouto. Niobe (Νιόβη was the daughter of the semi-legendary ruler Tantalus, called the " Phrygian " and sometimes even as "King of Phrygia Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance This was considered similar to tantalum's general non-reactivity—it sits among reagents and is unaffected by them. The English word tantalize was named after Tantalus, and tantalum was named after the tantalizing problems posed by the inertness of the element and its compounds.

For many years, the commercial technology for separating tantalum from niobium involved the fractional crystallization of potassium heptafluorotantalate away from potassium oxypentafluoroniobate monohydrate, that had been discovered by Marignac in the 1860s. The method has been supplanted by solvent extraction from fluoride-containing solutions.

Occurrence

There are many species of tantalum minerals, only some of which are so far being used by industry as raw materials: tantalite, microlite, wodginite, euxenite, polycrase. Tantalite, ] Mn) Ta 2 O 6] is a Mineral that is close to Columbite. Microlite is a pale-yellow reddish-brown or black isometric Mineral composed of Sodium Calcium Tantalum Oxide with a Euxenite or euxenite-(Y (a correct mineralogical name is a brownish black Mineral with a metallic luster. Polycrase or polycrase-(Y is a black or brown metallic complex Uranium Yttrium Oxide Mineral with formula (YCaCeUTh(TiNbTa2O6 Tantalite [(Fe,Mn) Ta₂O₆] is the most important mineral for tantalum extraction. Tantalite, ] Mn) Ta 2 O 6] is a Mineral that is close to Columbite. Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26 Manganese (ˈmæŋgəniːz is a Chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. Oxygen (from the Greek roots ὀξύς (oxys (acid literally "sharp" from the taste of acids and -γενής (-genēs (producer literally begetteris the

Other minerals include samarskite and fergusonite. Samarskite or properly samarskite-(Y is a Radioactive Mineral with the Empirical formula: Y 0 Fergusonite is a mineral comprising a complex oxide of various rare earth elements

The main production of tantalum occurs in Australia, where the largest producer, Talison Minerals (formerly part of the Sons of Gwalia company), operates the Wodgina mine. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Sons of Gwalia is a Western Australian Mining company which mines Tantalum, Spodumene, Lithium and Tin. ^[2] Tantalum minerals are also mined in Brazil, Canada, China, Ethiopia and Mozambique. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National NOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk page Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique (Moçambique or República de Moçambique, ʁɛ'publikɐ d musɐ̃'bik is a country in southeastern Africa Tantalum is also produced in Thailand and Malaysia as a by-product of tin mining and smelting. The Kingdom of Thailand (ˈtaɪlænd ราชอาณาจักรไทย, râːtɕʰa-ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k-tʰɑj For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and Tin is a Chemical element with the symbol Sn (stannum and Atomic number 50

Future large sources of supply, in order of magnitude, are being explored in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greenland, China, Mozambique, Canada, Australia, U.S.A., Finland and Brazil. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA ( المملكة العربية السعودية, al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya) or Suudi This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat meaning "Land of the Greenlanders" Grønland is a self-governing Danish Province located between the China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique (Moçambique or República de Moçambique, ʁɛ'publikɐ d musɐ̃'bik is a country in southeastern Africa Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld ^[3]

A comprehensive, 2002 review of non-Australian mines is available^[4].

Tantalite has the same mineral structure as columbite [(Fe,Mn) (Ta,Nb)₂O₆]; when there is more Ta than Nb it is called tantalite and when there is more Nb than Ta is it called columbite (or niobite). Tantalite, ] Mn) Ta 2 O 6] is a Mineral that is close to Columbite. Ferrocolumbite, also called niobite, niobite-tantalite, columbate and columbite ] Mn)( Nb, Ta)2 Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26 Manganese (ˈmæŋgəniːz is a Chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. Niobium (naɪˈoʊbiəm or columbium (/kəˈlʌmbiəm/ is a Chemical element that has the symbol Nb and Atomic number 41 Oxygen (from the Greek roots ὀξύς (oxys (acid literally "sharp" from the taste of acids and -γενής (-genēs (producer literally begetteris the Ferrocolumbite, also called niobite, niobite-tantalite, columbate and columbite ] Mn)( Nb, Ta)2 In central Africa the colloquial term coltan is used to refer to the two minerals equally, an example being the Democratic Republic of the Congo which the United States Geological Survey reports in its 2006 yearbook as having produced a little less than 1% of the world's tantalum for the past four years. Central Africa is a core Region of the African Continent often considered to include Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad Coltan is the colloquial African name for Columbite - Tantalite, a metallic Ore from which is extracted the elements Niobium and The Democratic Republic of the Congo (République démocratique du Congo often referred to as DR Congo, DRC or RDC, and formerly known or referred to The United States Geological Survey ( USGS) is a scientific agency of the United States government. ^[5]

Ethical questions have been raised about responsible corporate behaviour, human rights and endangered wildlife, due to the exploitation of resources such as coltan in the conflict regions of the Congo. According to United Nations report^[6] smuggling and exportation of coltan helped fuel the war in the Congo, a crisis that has resulted in approximately 5. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security 4 million^[7] deaths since 1998 – making it the world’s deadliest documented conflict since WW II. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

Several complicated steps are involved in the extraction of tantalum from tantalite, the first being crushing of the mineral and physical concentration by gravity separation which is generally carried out near the mine site. A crusher is a Machine designed to reduce large Solid Material Objects into a smaller volume or smaller pieces Gravity separation is an industrial method of separating two components from a suspension or any other homogeneous mixture where separating the components with gravity is sufficiently Mining is the extraction of valuable Minerals or other geological materials from the earth usually (but not always from an Ore body Further processing by chemical separation is generally accomplished by treating the ores with a mixture of hydrofluoric acid and sulfuric acids at over 90°C. In a " scientific " sense a chemical process is a method or means of somehow changing one or more Chemicals or Chemical compounds Such a chemical Hydrofluoric acid is a Solution of Hydrogen fluoride in Water. Sulfuric (or sulphuric acid, H 2 S[[oxygen O]]4 is a strong Mineral acid. This causes the tantalum and niobium to dissolve as complex fluorides and be separated from the impurities. The term complex in Chemistry is usually used to describe molecules or ensembles formed by the combination of Ligands and metal Ions. Fluoride is the reduced form of Fluorine. Both organic and Inorganic compounds containing the element fluorine are considered fluorides Impurities are Substances inside a confined amount of Liquid, Gas, or Solid, which differ from the Chemical composition of the material The resulting potassium fluorotantalate salt is generally treated by reduction with molten sodium to produce a coarse tantalum powder. Potassium (pəˈtæsiəm is a Chemical element. It has the symbol K (kalium from qalīy Atomic number 19 and Atomic mass 39 A salt, in Chemistry, is defined as the product formed from the neutralisation reaction of Acids and bases. Sodium (ˈsoʊdiəm is an element which has the symbol Na( Latin natrium, from Arabic natrun) atomic number 11 atomic mass 22 ^[8]

Compounds

Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists have developed a tantalum carbide-graphite composite material that is one of the hardest materials ever synthesized. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL (previously known at various times as Site Y, Los Alamos Laboratory, and Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory) is a Tantalum carbide ( Ta[[Carbon C]] is an extremely hard ( Mohs hardess 9-10 refractory Ceramic material commercially used in The Mineral graphite, as with Diamond and Fullerene, is one of the Allotropes of carbon. An alloy is a Solid solution or Homogeneous mixture of two or more elements, at least one of which is a Metal, which itself has Korean researchers have developed an amorphous tantalum-tungsten-copper alloy which is more flexible and two to three times stronger than traditional steel alloys. ^[9]

See also tantalum compounds.

Isotopes

Main article: isotopes of tantalum

Natural tantalum consists of two isotopes: ^180mTa (0. Natural Tantalum ( Ta) consists of two Isotopes 180mTa (0012% and 181Ta (99 Isotopes (Greek isos = "equal" tópos = "site place" are any of the different types of atoms ( Nuclides 012%) and ¹⁸¹Ta (99. 988%). ¹⁸¹Ta is a stable isotope. Stable isotopes are chemical isotopes that are not Radioactive (to current knowledge ^180mTa (m denotes a metastable state) is predicted to decay in three ways: isomeric transition to the ground state of ¹⁸⁰Ta, beta decay to ¹⁸⁰W, electron capture to ¹⁸⁰Hf. Isomeric transition is a Radioactive decay process that occurs in an Atom where the nucleus is in an excited Meta state (e In Quantum mechanics, a stationary state is an Eigenstate of a Hamiltonian, or in other words a state of definite energy In Nuclear physics, beta decay is a type of Radioactive decay in which a Beta particle (an Electron or a Positron) is emitted Tungsten (ˈtʌŋstən also known as wolfram (/ˈwʊlfrəm/ is a Chemical element that has the symbol W and Atomic number 74 Hafnium (ˈhæfniəm is a Chemical element that has the symbol Hf and Atomic number 72 However, any radioactivity of this nuclear isomer was never observed. A nuclear isomer is a Metastable state of an Atomic nucleus caused by the excitation of one or more of its Nucleons A nuclear isomer occupies Only a lower limit on its half life of over 10¹⁵ years has been set. Half-Life (computer-game page here It's already listed in the disambiguation page This list compares various sizes of positive Numbers including counts of things Dimensionless quantity and probabilities. The ground state of ¹⁸⁰Ta has a half life of only 8 hours.

^180mTa is the only naturally occurring nuclear isomer (excluding radiogenic and cosmogenic short-living nuclides). A nuclear isomer is a Metastable state of an Atomic nucleus caused by the excitation of one or more of its Nucleons A nuclear isomer occupies It is also the rarest isotope in the Universe, taking into account the elemental abundance of tantalum and isotopic abundance of ^180mTa in the natural mixture of isotopes.

Tantalum has been proposed as a "salting" material for nuclear weapons (cobalt is another, better-known salting material). A cobalt bomb, a type of salted bomb is a Nuclear weapon originally proposed by physicist Leó Szilárd, who suggested that it would be capable of destroying A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Cobalt (ˈkoʊbɒlt is a hard lustrous silver-grey Metal, a Chemical element with symbol Co. A jacket of ¹⁸¹Ta, irradiated by the intense high-energy neutron flux from an exploding thermonuclear weapon, would transmute into the radioactive isotope ¹⁸²Ta with a half-life of 114. Half-Life (computer-game page here It's already listed in the disambiguation page 43 days and produce approximately 1. 12 MeV of gamma radiation, significantly increasing the radioactivity of the weapon's fallout for several months. Gamma rays (denoted as &gamma) are a form of Electromagnetic radiation or light emission of frequencies produced by sub-atomic particle interactions Fallout is the residual radiation hazard from a Nuclear explosion, so named because it "falls out" of the atmosphere into which it is spread during the explosion Such a weapon is not known to have ever been built, tested, or used.

Precautions

Compounds containing tantalum are rarely encountered in the laboratory. The metal is highly biocompatible and is used for body implants and coatings, therefore attention may be focused on other elements or the physical nature of the chemical compound. Biocompatibility is related to the behavior of Biomaterials and in that it is a peculiar word because it would seem that are at least two opposing uses of the same term An implant is a Medical device made to replace and act as a missing biological structure (as compared with a transplant, which indicates transplanted Biomedical Coating is a Covering that is applied to an object The aim of applying coatings is to improve surface properties of a bulk material usually referred to as a substrate A chemical compound is a substance consisting of two or more different elements chemically bonded together in a fixed proportion by Mass. ^[10]

The only concern in the laboratory with tantalum is with the powder form: as is common with finely divided metal powders this may catch fire. Fire is the heat and light energy released during a Chemical reaction, in particular a combustion reaction.

A single study from 1956 (Oppenheimer, B. S. , Oppenheimer, E. T. , Danishefsky, I. & Stout, A. P. (1956) Carcinogenic effects of metals in rodent. Cancer Res. , 16, 439-441) is the only reference in literature ever linking tantalum to local sarcomas. A sarcoma (from the Greek 'sarx' meaning "flesh" is a Cancer of the connective or supportive tissue ( Bone, Cartilage, Fat It is possible the result was due to other factors not considered in the study. The study was quoted in IARC Monograph vol. The International Agency for Research on Cancer ( IARC, or CIRC in its French Acronym) is an intergovernmental agency forming part of the World Health 74 which includes the following "Note to the reader": "Inclusion of an agent in the Monographs does not imply that it is a carcinogen, only that the published data have been examined. The term carcinogen refers to any substance Radionuclide or radiation that is an agent directly involved in the promotion of Cancer or in the fatation of its propagation "^[11]

References

• Los Alamos National Laboratory - Tantalum
• T.I.C. industry site - Tantalum uses, ore mining and extraction
• R. Cohen (2006). Applications of porous tantalum in total hip arthroplasty. Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 14:646-655.

1. ^ What is a resistor?
2. ^ Talison Minerals (2008), Wodgina Operations, <http://www.talison.com.au/pages/wodgina.htm>. Retrieved on 3 June 2008 
3. ^ Mining Journal (2007-November), Tantalum supplement, <http://www.noventa.net/pdf/presentations/tanatalumSCR_presentation.pdf>. Retrieved on 3 June 2008 
4. ^ GSWA Mineral Resources Bulletin 22, Chapter 10: International tantalum resources — exploration and mining
5. ^ US Geological Survey (2006), 2006 Minerals Yearbook Nb & Ta, <http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/niobium/#pubs>. The United States Geological Survey ( USGS) is a scientific agency of the United States government. Retrieved on 3 June 2008 
6. ^ S/2003/1027, 2003-10-26, <http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=S/2003/1027>. Retrieved on 19 April 2008 
7. ^ International Rescue Committee, Special Report: Congo, <http://www.theirc.org/special-report/congo-forgotten-crisis.html>. Retrieved on 19 April 2008 
8. ^ T. I. C. , Extraction/refining, <http://www.tanb.org/tantalum1.html>. Retrieved on 3 June 2008 
9. ^ Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea
10. ^ Biomaterials (2001), Biocompatibility of tantalum, <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11336297>. Retrieved on 3 June 2008 
11. ^ IARC (1999), Surgical implants and other foreign bodies, <http://www.inchem.org/documents/iarc/vol74/implants.html>. Retrieved on 3 June 2008 

External links

• WebElements.com - Tantalum
• Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center

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