tantalum capacitor

tantalum capacitor

[′tant·əl·əm kə′pas·əd·ər]

(electricity)

An electrolytic capacitor in which the anode is some form of tantalum; examples include solid tantalum, tantalum-foil electrolytic, and tantalum-slug electrolytic capacitors.

tantalum capacitor

A capacitor made out of the precious metal tantalum. The silver-gray tantalum beads, in the form of compacted powder, can store a lot of charge relative to their mass. This enables smaller capacitors to be built, helping to reduce the size of mobile phones. See capacitor.