Molybdenum

Strange blog title, I know but words just have a way of popping out at me and even though I deleted this one once here it is bugging me again. Guess I should get the lead out and get on with this blog then. Molybdenum is an element (from the periodic table, right!) that gets its name from the Greek word for lead because although it isn't lead its ores were often confused with lead ores. It resembles chromium and tungsten in many properties, is used especially in strengthening and hardening steel, especially high temperature steels since molybdenum has a high melting point. Suffice it to say it has a lot of uses in industry, as I quickly found out from my research.

Molybdenum is also an essential trace element for virtually all life forms and works with enzymes as a catalyst for carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur chemical transformations. It’s complicated, and there are molybdenum supplements available although healthy people need not use them. There is some evidence that suggests the supplements can be useful to people with Crohn’s disease and/or a molybdenum cofactor deficiency that can be identified through genetic testing.

These nuggets of trivial knowledge inspired by spotting an odd word while reading about gold mining and how a boy in 1799 skipped Sunday school to go fishing and found a 17 pound gold nugget long ago….but that’s a topic for another blog!