Chemistry students celebrated the annual Mole Day, occurring on Oct. 23 from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m. It fell during National Chemistry Week, an event that communicates the importance of chemistry in everyday life.
Despite the common belief of youngsters, the “holiday” has nothing to do with the cute little mammals that burrow in the dirt. Instead, it commemorates Avagadro’s number: 6.022×10^23. This number, also known as the mole, is a base measuring unit in chemistry.
Chemistry teacher Mrs. Margaret Stone told her students, “A mole is just a unit of measure, a word that means a number. When I say ‘a dozen,’ you know I’m talking about 12 of something. Same thing with a mole.”
The mole is attributed to 18th century Italian scientist Lorenzo Romano Amedeo Carlo Avogadro di Queregna e di Cerreto, more commonly known as Amedeo Avogadro.
Stone said, “In 1811, Avagadro proposed a law stating that an equal volume of gasses at the same temperature and pressure has the same number of molecules.”
“But, his findings were ignored for about 100 years until French chemist Jean Baptiste Perrin proposed that the quantity of molecules be called ‘Avagadro’s Constant.’”
Mole Day was created to foster interest in chemistry, beginning in 1991; the National Mole Day Foundation encourages schools across the United States and around the globe to celebrate Mole Day with chemistry and mole projects and activities.
Each year, there is a different theme, ranging from The Mole, the Merrier in 1991 to Mole-o-ween in 2014.
Sophomore Melinda Looney-Ho said, “This year’s theme was based off of Star Wars, May the MOLES Be With You.”