Fun facts
- The element technetium is artificially made from molybdenum. The molybdenum is "bombarded with deuterons" (Challoner, 2012), and the result is technetium. Technetium is radioactive and is "used in medicine as a radioactive tracer injected into a patient's blood stream" (Challoner, 2012). This procedure is used for scans that need gamma rays to detect cancer and other diseases (Challoner, 2012).
- Molybdenum disulfide is used by the RCMP for taking fingerprints (RCMP, 2003).
- Molybdenum was used in the steel of the first World War German weapon, Big Bertha (Bell, 2011).
- Molybdenum is not a common element, in fact it is the "50th most abundant element in [the] Earth's crust" (Challoner, 2012).
- Humans also need a bit of molybdenum in their diet and some foods with molybdenum are pork, lentils, and whole grains (Challoner, 2012).