Identify the element with the electron configuration [Xe] 6s² 4f¹⁴ 5d³.

The electron configuration [Xe] 6s² 4f¹⁴ 5d³ corresponds to the element that has a specific number of electrons occupying various energy levels and sublevels. The notation begins with [Xe], which indicates that the configuration starts with the electron configuration of xenon, accounting for its 54 electrons.

Following [Xe], the 6s² notation indicates that there are two electrons in the 6s subshell. The 4f¹⁴ signifies that all 14 f-orbitals in the 4f subshell are filled, which is common in the lanthanides and actinides. Lastly, the 5d³ denotes that there are three electrons in the 5d subshell.

This overall configuration totals 6 (from 6s²) + 14 (from 4f¹⁴) + 3 (from 5d³) + 54 (from [Xe]) = 77 electrons, which corresponds to the atomic number of the element.

The element with atomic number 77 is Rhenium (Re). Therefore, while tantalum is near this atomic number and is located in the d-block of the periodic table, it does not match