Happy Mole Day!

I have to mention this because I am a total science geek.  

Today, October 23rd (10/23), across the nation and even the world, chemistry people are celebrating Mole Day.  Now this is not the kind of mole that burrows underground and into your back yard ruining your bushes or vegetable garden.  This is the molecular mole.  One mole of a molecule is equal to it's atomic mass in grams (see website).  There are 6.02 x 10^23 molecules of a any substance in one mole of the substance.  The number, 6.02 x 10^23 is called Avogadro's Number after Amadeo Avogadro who made this discovery.  Therefore Mole Day officially begins at 6:02 am and lasts until 6:02 pm today.

To celebrate Mole Day this year you can start by saying the Mole pledge.

MOLE  PLEDGE

(Background:  When saying the pledge of allegiance to the U.S. flag, one faces the flag.  If no flag is present, one should face our nation's capitol, Washington D.C.  When saying the pledge to the mole, a real mole is usually not present.  So, one should bend over and face the earth!)

I pledge allegiance to the mole, and to the science from which it comes, one SI unit, extremely divisible, with micromoles and millimoles for all.     (Provided by R. Thomas Myers - Kent State University, Kent, OH)

 

I pledge allegiance to the mole, to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, and to the atomic mass for which it stands, one number, most divisible, with atoms and molecules for all.                                       (Provided by Sylvia Cooper - Morgantown High School, Morgantown, WV)

Thanks to the National Mole Day Foundation, Inc. for the website www.moleday.org  Log on to find more mole info!