Tantalum is used in pen points, chemical equipment, weights, and vacuum furnace parts.
Tantalum is used in weights because it is very heavy and is used in vacuum parts because of the high melting point. It is a silver gray metal. Tantalum has about 25 isotopes. An isotope is one of two or more atoms with the same atomic number, but with a different number of neutrons. Tantalum has 73 protons and 73 electrons.