Tantalum Reduction

Chemical Formula: Ta, TaO4 (TaO3)
Present as: anion

Tantalum is a chemical element with symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as tantalium, its name comes from Tantalus, a villain 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 components in alloys. The chemical inertness of tantalum makes it a valuable substance for laboratory equipment and a substitute for platinum. Tantalum, always together with the chemically similar niobium, occurs in the minerals tantalite, columbite and coltan (a mix of columbite and tantalite).
Tantalum is dark (blue-gray), 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.
Its main use today is in tantalum capacitors in electronic equipment such as mobile phones, DVD players, video game systems and computers. It is also used as an additive in high strength alloys. Tantalum is generally insoluble in water, even in aqua regia.

Tantalates, although a component of ores that contain tantalum, are not used for any commercial purpose.

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