chemistry

Lithium tantalate

Lithium tantalate is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lithium tantalate rather than just read about it. In short: Lithium tantalate is the inorganic compound with the formula LiTaO3. It is a white, diamagnetic, water-insoluble solid.

Key takeaways

Lithium tantalate belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lithium tantalate to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lithium tantalate from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lithium tantalate is the inorganic compound with the formula LiTaO3. It is a white, diamagnetic, water-insoluble solid. The compound has the perovskite structure. It has optical, piezoelectric, and pyroelectric properties. Considerable information is available from commercial sources about this material.

Synthesis and processing Lithium tantalate is produced by treating tantalum(V) oxide with lithium oxide. The use of excess alkali gives water-soluble polyoxotantalates. Single crystals of Lithium tantalate are pulled from the melt using the Czochralski method.

Applications Lithium tantalate is used for nonlinear optics, passive infrared sensors such as motion detectors, terahertz generation and detection, surface acoustic wave applications, cell phones. Lithium tantalate is a standard detector element in infrared spectrophotometers.

Research The phenomenon of pyroelectric fusion has been demonstrated using a lithium tantalate crystal producing a large enough charge to generate and accelerate a beam of deuterium nuclei into a deuterated target resulting in the production of a small flux of helium-3 and neutrons through nuclear fusion without extreme heat or pressure. A difference between positively and negatively charged parts of pyroelectric LiTaO3 crystals was observed when water freezes to them.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lithium tantalate

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lithium tantalate claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lithium tantalate before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lithium tantalate ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lithium tantalate

In research: Lithium tantalate appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lithium tantalate in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lithium tantalate is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Crystallography stubs, Crystals, Inorganic compound stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lithium tantalate outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lithium tantalate in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lithium tantalate means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lithium tantalate out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lithium tantalate in simple terms?

Lithium tantalate is the inorganic compound with the formula LiTaO3. It is a white, diamagnetic, water-insoluble solid.

Why does Lithium tantalate matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lithium tantalate?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lithium tantalate.