Niobium vs Tantalum
Niobium and Tantalum are genuine alternatives to one another — a choice somebody actually makes — and differ on 3 measured properties, mohs hardness most clearly.
Niobium vs Tantalum
Niobium
Nb
A metal that superconducts usefully, and that spent a century being confused with tantalum.
Tantalum
Ta
The capacitor metal, and the one whose supply chain forced an industry to think about where its materials come from.
| Property | Niobium | Tantalum |
|---|---|---|
| Atomic number | 41 | 73 higher |
| Density Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | Not known | 16.65 g/cm³ |
| Melting point Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | Not known | 2996.1 °C |
| Mohs hardness Mohs hardness is an ordinal scale: values can be ranked, but differences and ratios between them are not meaningful. | about 6 | about 6.5 higher |
| Molar mass | 92.90637 g/mol | 180.94788 g/mol higher |