What makes tantalum special?

               Do you know how the element tantalum gets its name? There is a Greek mythological figure called Tantalus who was sentenced for his heinous crimes. He was punished to eternally stand in a stream, beneath a tree with fruit-laden branches, never being able to satiate his hunger or quench his thirst. The element tantalum is named after this villainous character.

               Tantalum was discovered by Anders Ekeberg, a Swiss chemist, in 1802. Ekeberg was an expert in Greek literature, and he was deaf!

               The element is blue-grey in colour, and is a very hard metal with the fourth highest melting point of any metallic element. It is well known for its ability to resist corrosion by acids, even aqua regia, a strong acidic mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid.

               There is a wide variety of minerals that contain tantalum, but only five are viable for commercial uses at present. They are euxenite, microlite, polycrase, tantalite, and wodginite. Of these minerals, tantalite is the most important for tantalum mining.

               Tantalum is mainly found in Australia, Brazil, Mozambique, Thailand, Portugal, Nigeria, Zaire and Canada. It is used in a variety of alloys to add high strength, ductility and a high melting point.

               The atomic number of tantalum is 73, and its atomic symbol is Ta.

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