Period 5 element be colored by anodization are particular advantages. Molybdenum is a Group 6 chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42. The name is from Neo-Latin "Molybdaenum", from Ancient Greek , meaning "lead", itself proposed as a loanword from Anatolian Luvian and Lydian languages, since its ores were confused with lead ores. The free element, which is a silvery metal, has the sixth-highest melting point of any element. It readily forms hard, stable carbides, and for this reason it is often used in high-strength steel alloys. Molybdenum does not occur as a free metal on Earth, but rather in
Period 6 element between barium and hafnium, and radium and rutherfordium, respectively. This convention is entirely a matter of aesthetics and formatting practicality; a rarely used wide-formatted periodic table inserts the lanthanide and actinide series in their proper places, as parts of the table's sixth and seventh rows (periods). Lanthanum is a chemical element with the symbol La and atomic number 57. It is the first element in the lanthanide series. It is a soft, ductile, silvery-white metal that tarnishes rapidly when exposed to air and is soft enough to be cut with a knife. It is the eponym of the lanthanide series,