42
Mo
95.951
Molybdenum
Transition Metal
Group 6
Period 5
Block d
Molybdenum is a chemical element of the periodic table with chemical symbol Mo and atomic number 42 with an atomic weight of 95.951 u and is classed as transition metal and is part of group 6 (chromium group). Molybdenum is solid at room temperature.
Molybdenum in the periodic table
| Symbol | Mo |
| Atomic number | 42 |
| Group | 6 (Chromium group) |
| Period | 5 |
| Block | d |
| Classification | Transition Metal |
| Appearance | Gray metallic |
| Color | Gray |
| Number of protons | 42 p+ |
| Number of neutrons | 54 n0 |
| Number of electrons | 42 e- |
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaMolybdenum is a chemical element with symbol Mo and atomic number 42. The name is from Neo-Latin molybdaenum, from Ancient Greek Μόλυβδος molybdos, meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lead ores. Molybdenum minerals have been known throughout history, but the element was discovered (in the sense of differentiating it as a new entity from the mineral salts of other metals) in 1778 by Carl Wilhelm Scheele.
Physical properties
| Phase at STP | Solid |
| Density | 10.28 g/cm3 |
| Atomic weight | 95.951 u |
Thermal properties
| Melting point | 2896 K 2622.85 °C 4753.13 °F |
| Boiling point | 4912 K 4638.85 °C 8381.93 °F |
| Heat of vaporization | 590.4 kJ/mol |
Atomic properties
| Electronegativity (Pauling Scale) | 2.16 |
| Electron affinity | 72.1 kJ/mol |
| Oxidation states | −4, −2, −1, 0, +1, +2, +3, +4, +5, +6 (a strongly acidic oxide) |
| Ionization energies |
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Electron configuration for molybdenum
Electron configuration Shorthand configuration | [Kr] 4d5 5s1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full configuration | 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d5 5s1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electron configuration chart |
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| Electrons per shell | 2, 8, 18, 13, 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Outer shell electrons | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Valence electrons (incl. d) | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Valency electrons | 2,3,4,5,6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bohr model | Figure: Shell diagram of Molybdenum (Mo) atom. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Orbital Diagram |
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The history of Molybdenum
| Discovery | Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1778) |
| First isolation | Peter Jacob Hjelm (1781) |
| Named by | Peter Jacob Hjelm (1781) |
Discovery of molybdenum Molybdenite—the principal ore from which molybdenum is now extracted—was previously known as molybdena. Molybdena was confused with and often utilized as though it were graphite. Like graphite, molybdenite can be used to blacken a surface or as a solid lubricant. Although (reportedly) molybdenum was deliberately alloyed with steel in one 14th-century Japanese sword (mfd. ca. 1330), that art was never employed widely and was later lost. In the West in 1754, Bengt Andersson Qvist examined a sample of molybdenite and determined that it did not contain lead and thus was not galena. By 1778 Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele stated firmly that molybdena was (indeed) neither galena nor graphite. Instead, Scheele correctly proposed that molybdena was an ore of a distinct new element, named molybdenum for the mineral in which it resided, and from which it might be isolated. Peter Jacob Hjelm successfully isolated molybdenum using carbon and linseed oil in 1781. | |
| Original word | molybdos |
| Language of origin | Greek |
| Name source | Properties |
| Meaning | “Lead” |
Naming The name comes from Ancient Greek word molybdos (Μόλυβδος) meaning lead-like, as its ores were confused with lead ores. | |