What exactly is molybdenum
This heavy duty metal forms some surprising compounds with sulphur, oxygen and other elements. Molybdenum disulphide has a slippery, greasy quality that makes it a useful lubricant for machine parts. Molybdenum trioxide feels sticky. It gives an adhesive quality to enamels, especially those used on metals. Other of its compounds are used to make various dyes.
The ore molybdenite is soft enough to make streaks on paper. Its texture is scaly, its color is lead prey, slightly tinged with blue. If it were darker and less scaly, it could be mistaken for graphite. There are several deposits in the eastern and western mountains of North America. Most of our supplies are mined at Climax, Colorado. Sometimes the earthy ore forms brownish or colorless crystals. They are flat or flakey and soft enough to be bent by a finger.
Molybdenum was discovered in 1778 and given a tongue twister name coined from older words for lead and galena. Later it was identified as a chemical element in its own right. Hence, if its pronunciation throws you, you can still sound wise as an owl by referring to molybdenum as element 42 or by its chemical symbol "Mo." On the Periodic Table of neatly organized elements, it belongs in the family of transition metals. The group also includes tungsten, chromium and manganese.
These silvery white metals are hard and heat resistant because of their atomic structures. As a rule, atoms with higher numbers tend to be larger. The transition metals are tightly packed and the one or two electrons in their outer shells are very tightly packed and the one or two electrons in their outer shells are very firmly attached. It was impossible to melt and cast molybdenum until 1959, when somebody invented a water cooled crucible. It becomes molten at 2610 degrees centigrade and only four other elements have higher melting points. Omen alloyed with other metals it adds super strength, plus its resistance to heat and corrosion.
Like all our natural resources, the earth's supply of molybdenum is limited. It is rather rare, though about ten times more abundant than silver. Its chief ore is molybdenite, a grey blue earthy compound with sulphur. A rarer ore is .fluorescent powelite, a compound with calcium and oxygen which often forms in weathered molybdenum.
Most of the metal extracted is used with other hardening alloys in super strong molybdenum steel. This alloy proved its durability in such heavy duty items as parts for planes and spacecraft, missiles and rifle barrels. Molybdenum or its alloys also may be used to coat various corrosive substances. Filaments of molybdenum work well in electrical equipment because they conduct electricity and heat.