National Mole Day takes place each year on 23rd October, commencing at 6.02am and concluding at 6.02pm. National Mole Day is a special day for the likes of chemistry buffs, chemistry majors and chemistry teachers, and is designed to commemorate Avogadro’s Number (6.02 x 10^23).
In order go about fully celebrating and enjoying National Mole Day, you first need to understand what a ‘mole’ actually refers to in chemistry. A mole refers to a basic measuring unit that is the equal of the atomic mass of just the one single molecule. A mole is measured in grams and is a measurement that was discovered by Italian Amadeo Avogadro.
National Mole Day is celebrated and greatly enjoyed by chemistry teachers, who use it as a method of getting their students more interested in the subject of chemistry. Chemistry teachers create special lab experiments and lessons that are based around the theme of chemical measurements.
The reason why National Mole Day is celebrated beginning at 6.02am and ending at 6.02pm is a simple one, if more droll than particularly scientific. It is because the chemical formula for a mole begins with none other than the number 6.02. The origins of National Mole Day have been traced back to the early 1980s, where the idea of National Mole Day was originally conceived in an article featured in The Science Teacher. There is even an organized group known as the National Mole Day Foundation!
Jon Huser