LHS Celebrates Mole Day

On October 23, 2014, students of the Leonia High School Science Academy celebrated the existence of the mole. No, not the animal. A mole is a unit of measurement used in chemistry. It is the quantity of anything that has the same number of particles found in 12 grams of carbon-12, which is represented by Avogadro’s number, or 6.02 x10^23.

The date of Mole Day is derived from this Avogadro’s constant: 10^23 represents the month and day of the holiday while 6.02 represents the start and end times (6:02 am – 6:02 pm). Alternatively, some chemists celebrate Mole Day on June 2, which serves as a reference to the 6.02 part of the constant.

Students of LHS dressed up and celebrated all things “mole.” Sophomore Max Wang dressed up as Avogadro while other students made stuffed moles (the furry creature). They hung celebratory posters, hung balloons, and got mole tattoos. Other people outside of the Science Academy also participated.

Although the mole may seem unnecessarily glorified and irrelevant, it is essential that students become aware of the events in the scientific community, whose research and influence are undeniably widespread. Awareness is the first step in increasing the accessibility of scientific information. Long live the mole!