CMI ChemicalsSince GSN is a science network, we will be airing some special chemistry & math focused programming on Friday, October 23 in honor of “Mole Day”

“Mole Day” is an unofficial chemistry holiday on October 23rd (10-23), generally recognized from 6:02 am to 6:02 pm, to commemorate Avogadro’s Number, which is 6.02 x 10²³.   Basically, a mole is a unit of measurement used to count a whole number of atoms or molecules, whether they are small like a hydrogen atom or big like a uranium atom.  If a chemist says he has a mole of hydrogen that would mean he has 6.02 x 10²³ or 602,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (that’s 602 sextillion, which is roughly a six with 23 zeros) atoms of hydrogen.  We can translate moles into the more tangible unit of grams very easily because one mole of any atoms is equal to it’s atomic mass in grams.  That would mean that a mole of hydrogen is 1.01 grams and a mole of nitrogen is 14.01 grams.

Here’s a list of our special mole day programming:

We will also be airing a series of short videos by David Rives about Robert Boyle, who is considered to be the father of modern chemistry.  You can watch one of these 2-minute videos below

Hope you enjoy our special programming and happy Mole Day!