Peter (Petter) Jacob Hjelm (2 October 1746 – 7 October 1813) was a Swedish chemist and the first person to isolate the element molybdenum in 1781, four years after its discovery by Swedish chemist

Carl Wilhelm Scheele Carl Wilhelm Scheele (, ; 9 December 1742 – 21 May 1786) was a Swedish German pharmaceutical chemist. Scheele discovered oxygen (although Joseph Priestley published his findings first), and identified molybdenum, tungsten, barium, hyd ...

. Working with Molybdic acid, Hjelm chemically reduced

molybdenum oxide Molybdenum oxide may refer to: * Molybdenum(IV) oxide (molybdenum dioxide, ) * Molybdenum(VI) oxide Molybdenum trioxide describes a family of inorganic compounds with the formula MoO3(H2O)n where n = 0, 1, 2. These compounds are produced on the ...

with carbon in an oxygen-free atmosphere, resulting in

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...

and a near-pure dark metal powder to which he gave the name 'molybdenum'. His first publication on molybdenum appeared in 1790.

Childhood

Hjelm was born at Sunnerbo in Småland, Sweden in 1746. The son of parish priest Erik Hjelm and Cecilia Cecilia Gistrénia, he was raised in the parish of Göteryd in

Älmhult Älmhult () is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Älmhult Municipality in Kronoberg County, Sweden with 8,955 inhabitants in 2010. It was in Älmhult that the first IKEA (the Swedish furniture company) store was built. IKEA contin ...

Career

After studying at the

University of Uppsala Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

, he received his Ph.D. He became professor at the Mining academy and in 1782 he became Proberare of the Royal Mint, with the job of analyzing minerals to determine their content. From 1784 on he was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. His last position was as director of the Chemical Laboratory at the Ministry of Mining.

References

Literature

* 1746 births 1813 deaths 18th-century Swedish chemists Swedish metallurgists Uppsala University faculty Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 19th-century Swedish chemists Rare earth scientists {{chemist-stub