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tantalum
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Tantalum
Hard, ductile, lustrous, grey-white, metallic element, atomic number 73, relative atomic mass 180.948. It occurs with niobium in tantalite and other minerals. It can be drawn into wire with a very high melting point and great tenacity, useful for lamp filaments subject to vibration. It is also used in alloys, for corrosion-resistant laboratory apparatus and chemical equipment, as a catalyst in manufacturing synthetic rubber, in tools and instruments, and in rectifiers and capacitors.
Tantalum was discovered and named in 1802 by Swedish chemist Anders Ekeberg (1767–1813) after the mythological Greek character Tantalus. It is mined as tantalite ore and most of the world's supply comes from Australia, with significant deposits in Brazil, Canada, and Nigeria. Tantalum is used in mobile phone capacitors, and as a consequence demand for the element has risen dramatically.
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