Why is this element important in everyday life?
Molybdenum is most important to us in a way most of us never realize. It is a key trace element in some enzymes in the cells. These enzymes are used in the metabolism of iron and nitrogen, two key elements within the body. Without molybdenum, the body could not use these two elements. Molybdenum is also a key ingredient in plants, and some areas of land are barren for lack of molybdenum.
Molybdenum sulfide is used as a lubricant at extremely high temperatures. At these temperatures, oil would break down and be useless as a lubricant, but due to its extremely high melting point, molybdenum lasts.
Molybdenum is used extensively with steel alloys. It is used in nickel based alloys, and in many others to harden and toughen steels. This steel is used in gun barrels, boiler plate, and filaments for incandescent lights. It is also used as electrodes for electrically heated glass furnaces.
Where is this element found in nature?
Molybdenum is found in molybdenum ore, or molybdenite. It is extracted from this ore by a process of hydrogen reduction. To get the necessary amounts of nutritional molybdenum into your body you must eat your vegetables, just like you were told to. Legumes and green vegetables are both rich in molybdenum.
What are the properties of the element?
General Characteristics =
Molybdenum is a silvery white metal. It is extremely hard, although it is softer and more malleable than tungsten. It has an extremely high melting point. It was originally confused for lead.
Atomic Symbol = Mo
Period Number = period 5
Group Number and Family Name =group 6
Atomic Number = 42
Atomic Mass =95.94 u
Density =10.22 g/ml
Melting Point =2610 degrees C
Boiling Point =5560 degrees C
Electron Configuration =Mo-1s2 2s22p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d104p65s2 4d4
Shorthand Notation =Mo-[Kr] 5s2 4d4
Common Reactions =MoS2
Interesting Information =Molybdenum could not be cast due to its high melting point until 1959, when a water cooled crucible was developed. It was confused for lead ore until 1778. In fact, its name comes from the Greek word molybdenos, which means lead. Karl Wilhelm Scheele recognized it as being a completely different element. It was not isolated in a pure form until 1782 by a man named Hjelm.
Who is Molly B. Denum ?
The chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele was working very late in his lab one night in 1778. As of late he had been working with a type of lead ore, or so he and everyone else in the world believed. He had piles of the stuff just lying out around the lab. He was very tired and had just laid his head down for a short rest on a lab bench. Then he heard a tiny, female voice calling to him.
"Hey, big scientist guy! Hey you ! Yeah you, the guy napping on the job! Come over here!" the voice commanded. The weary chemist was shocked, but then decided that he was dreaming, and talking piles of lead ore seemed more normal that way. So he rose, and walked in the general direction of the voice, which continued to berate him.
"What seems to be the problem here ma'am?" he asked politely, not really knowing how to talk to ore.
" The problem is that you so-called scientists keep confusing me for lead, that's the problem. I am Molly B. Denum and I'm about as separate from lead as one element can be from another," shouted the voice.
"How do you figure that", Scheele asked "when you two look so similar?"
"Look, I know you have all been confused for so long, going back all the way to the Greeks, who saddled me with a name like molybdenum, but I am an independent element, and I deserve recognition as such. " explained the voice.
" What exactly makes you so different?" the beleaguered chemist asked.
"Just look at lead," the ore began. "It has a melting point of 327 degrees F. Now my melting point is 2610 degrees! See any difference, Scheele? Now lead is used extensively to write with, right? Well try that with me and you'll be there a long time trying. I am only slightly more malleable than tungsten. Scheele, you had better start separating me from lead pretty soon."
"All right, all right I see your point. How exactly do you expect me to just come out and say that molybdenum, known since the time of the Greeks as a type of lead ore is a completely different element?"
"That isn't my problem. All I know is that I want some recognition for my existence here. Molly B. Denum, a fine element. But I won't go mad and get hot under the collar and boil here. After all, my boiling point is one of the highest you'll find on the periodic table."
Scheele gave in. "Fine I will make an announcement in the scientific journals. Now good night ma'am." He went back and went to sleep on his bench. He woke up still thinking it was a dream. As he started studying further, he discovered that everything the ore said was true. He got credit for the discovery, of course, but Molly B. Denum seemed satisfied and never saw any need to call on Scheele again.
