Molybdenum has properties similar to tungsten, with a melting point of approximately 2620 ℃ and high high-temperature strength at high temperatures. Molybdenum has a relatively high specific strength above 1000 ℃, making it an extremely useful high-temperature structural material. Molybdenum has better high-temperature conductivity than iron and nickel, with an expansion coefficient of about 30% of copper, almost the same as the expansion coefficient of special glass used in electronic tubes.

Molybdenum has good corrosion resistance, second only to tungsten in acidity. In the metallurgical industry, molybdenum is an important additive: adding molybdenum can improve the heat resistance, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, toughness, and hardenability of alloys, making it a very beneficial element in alloys. Due to its high melting point, good conductivity and thermal conductivity, molybdenum can be used as a heating element and heat reflecting material for high-temperature furnaces. The working temperature of an electric furnace using molybdenum as a heating element can reach 1700 ℃. In the electronic and electrical industry, electronic tube cathodes, gates, high-voltage rectifier components, and filament supports in incandescent lamps can be made. Its wear-resistant, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant properties make it commonly used in the metal processing industry as an extrusion film, die-casting film, and casting mold core. Molybdenum alloy has high high-temperature strength and specific strength, and under coating protection, it can be used to make parts such as nozzles and heat shields for rocket engines. Due to the small thermal neutron absorption cross-section of molybdenum and its alloys, their stability in nuclear fuel and resistance to liquid metal corrosion are good. They can be used as cladding materials and core structural materials for gas cooled reactors in the atomic energy industry. In front of glass, molybdenum is used as an electrode instead of platinum in industry, and also as a heating element and stirrer for glass melting.

Among the compounds of molybdenum, dibasic molybdenum can be used as a solid lubricant, with better performance than the beginning and end, and can be used normally within the temperature range of -45~400 ℃. If the soil contains trace amounts of molybdenum, it can stimulate plant growth. Applying trace amounts of molybdenum fertilizer can increase soybean yield by 10-15% and rice yield by 20-25%. Therefore, molybdenum compounds are also used in the production of composite fertilizers.