Tantalum sinadari ne mai alamar Ta da lambar atomic 73. A da an san shi da tantalium, sunansa ya fito ne daga Tantalus, wani mugun mutum daga tatsuniyar Girka. Tantalum wani ƙarfe ne mai sauƙin canzawa, mai tauri, shuɗi-toka, mai sheƙi wanda ke da juriya ga tsatsa. Yana cikin ƙungiyar ƙarfe masu jure wa tsatsa, waɗanda ake amfani da su sosai a matsayin ƙananan abubuwa a cikin ƙarfe. Rashin ƙarfin sinadarai na tantalum ya sa ya zama abu mai mahimmanci ga kayan aikin dakin gwaje-gwaje da kuma madadin platinum. Babban amfani da shi a yau yana cikin capacitors na tantalum a cikin kayan lantarki kamar wayoyin hannu, na'urorin DVD, tsarin wasannin bidiyo da kwamfutoci. Tantalum, koyaushe tare da niobium mai kama da sinadarai, yana faruwa a cikin ƙungiyoyin ma'adanai tantalite, columbite da coltan (haɗin columbite da tantalite, kodayake ba a san shi a matsayin nau'in ma'adinai daban ba). Ana ɗaukar Tantalum a matsayin sinadari mai mahimmanci ga fasaha.

Sifofin jiki
Tantalum duhu ne (shuɗi-launin toka), mai kauri, mai jurewa, mai tauri sosai, mai sauƙin ƙera, kuma yana da matuƙar tasiri ga zafi da wutar lantarki. An san ƙarfen da juriyarsa ga tsatsa ta hanyar acid; a zahiri, a yanayin zafi ƙasa da 150 °C, tantalum kusan ba ta da kariya daga hari daga aqua regia mai ƙarfi. Ana iya narkar da shi da hydrofluoric acid ko maganin acidic wanda ke ɗauke da fluoride ion da sulfur trioxide, da kuma maganin potassium hydroxide. Babban zafin narkewar Tantalum na 3017 °C (ma'aunin tafasa 5458 °C) ya wuce tsakanin abubuwan da ke cikinsa ne kawai ta hanyar tungsten, rhenium da osmium don karafa, da carbon.

Tantalum yana wanzuwa a matakai biyu na crystalline, alpha da beta. Matakin alpha yana da laushi kuma yana da tsari mai siffar cubic mai tsakiya a jiki (rukunin sararin samaniya Im3m, madaidaitan lattice a = 0.33058 nm), Taurin Knoop 200–400 HN da juriyar lantarki 15–60 µΩ⋅cm. Matakin beta yana da tauri kuma yana da rauni; daidaiton kristal ɗinsa yana da tetragonal (rukunin sararin samaniya P42/mnm, a = 1.0194 nm, c = 0.5313 nm), Taurin Knoop shine 1000–1300 HN kuma juriyar lantarki yana da girma sosai a 170–210 µΩ⋅cm. Matakin beta yana da ƙarfi kuma yana canzawa zuwa matakin alpha bayan dumama zuwa 750–775 °C. Babban tantalum kusan gaba ɗaya alpha ne, kuma matakin beta yawanci yana wanzuwa azaman siririn fim da aka samu ta hanyar magnetron sputtering, adana tururin sinadarai ko ajiyar electrochemical daga maganin gishirin da aka narkar da shi.