Discovery date : 1802
Discovered by: Anders Gustav Ekeberg
Origin of the name: The name is derived from the legendary Greek figure King Tantalus.
Allotropes :
~>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.
| FACT BOX | |||
| Group | 5 | Melting point | 3017°C, 5463°F, 3290 K |
| Period | 6 | Boiling point | 5455°C, 9851°F, 5728 K |
| Block | d | Density (g cm−3) | 16.4 |
| Atomic number | 73 | Relative atomic mass | 180.948 |
| State at 20°C | Solid | Key isotopes | 180Ta,181Ta |
| Electron configuration | [Xe] 4f145d36s2 | CAS number | 7440-25-7 |
| ChemSpider ID | 22395 | ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database | |
Tantalum was reported as a new metal in 1802 by Anders Gustav Ekeberg at Uppsala University, Sweden. However, when William Wollaston analysed the minerals from which it had been extracted he declared it was identical to niobium which has been discovered the year previously. It was as a result of their similarity that there was confusion regarding their identification. These two elements often occur together and, being chemically very similar, were difficult to separate by the methods available at the time of the discovery.
It was not until 1846 that Heinrich Rose separated tantalum and niobium and proved conclusively that they were different elements, and yet his sample of tantalum was still somewhat impure, and it was not until 1903 that pure tantalum was produced by Werner von Bolton.