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Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Everybody Loves Avogadro

There's something about 6.02 x 10^23 that makes people whimsical. Maybe it's because of its funny name -- Avogadro's number. Or maybe it's because it is such an unbelieveably vast number. Or maybe it's because we call it a mole, which brings to mid furry cartoon animals with glasses. But whatever it is, it certainly brings out the fun side of chemists. What chemist doesn't celebrate Mole Day, from 6:02 am to 6:02 pm on October 23? Mole Day is a great day to tell some mole jokes.

Q: What do you get when you have a bunch of moles acting like idiots?
A: A bunch of moleasses.

And who's the man behind the name (which is avoGADro, not avocado)? Amadeo Avogadro was an Italian theoretician who did work with gases. The number, 6.02 x 10^23, was given his name many years later in honor of the work that he did regarding the gas laws; work that was never recognized while he was alive. So, though it bears his name, Avogadro had nothing to do with the mole. And while a mole isn't a fuzzy little animal, Avogadro also isn't a delicious green fruit.
avocado Avogadro

But I think the real attraction of Avogadro's number is its hugeness. 6.02 x 10^23 is a truly large number. If you were to try to count to 6.02 x 10^23, starting with the number "one" at the rate of one count every second, it may take you about 1,909,577,942,668,696 years to finish. That is longer than our universe has even existed. If you spread Avogadro's number of unpopped popcorn kernels across the USA, the entire country would be covered in popcorn to a depth of over 9 miles. A mole of soft drink cans would cover the surface of the earth to a depth of over 200 miles. A mole of something is alot!

What fun facts can you find about Avogadro's number?




23 comments:

  1. Q: What kind of fruit did Avogadro eat in the summer?



    A: Watermolens :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Q: What did Avogadro teach his students in math class?
    A: Moletiplication

    hardy har har

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  3. Avogadro's number of cents could repay the United States National Debt almost 6 million times

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  4. I have found the Mole Pledge on the National Mole Day Foundation website. And here it is:
    "I pledge allegiance to the mole, and to the science in which it comes from, one SI unit, extremely divisible, with micro-moles and milli-moles for all." OR there is another version which is:
    "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."

    ReplyDelete
  5. Q: How much does Avogadro exaggerate?
    A: He makes mountains out of mole hill

    Fun Fact:
    Avogadro's number of cents could repay the United States National Debt 86 million times.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is a joke I found online........
    What do you call something that does not have to do with a mole?
    -imoleable

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  7. I found the mole song, it's to the tune of deck the halls.....

    Avogadro's Number makes one
    mole of atoms or of molecules.
    Changing it to grams is easy
    If you know what things to use.
    Multiply it by a fraction
    Molar mass over one mole.
    Then you calculate your answer
    Canceling like terms, you'll reach your goal.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Question:
    What is Avogardro's favorite kind of music?

    Answer:
    Rock 'N' Mole

    ReplyDelete
  9. Here are some more facts I found online...
    1.One mole of paper would make a stack that would reach to the moon more than 80 billion times
    2.One mole of seconds is about 19 quadrillion years, 4,240,666 times the age of the earth, or 954,150 times the age of the universe itself
    3.A one liter bottle of water contains 55.5 moles of water

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  10. Could things such as grains of sand, or salt be measured in moles? What about grains of rice?

    Q: Why was there only one Avogadro?
    A: When they made him, they broke the Moled

    ha.ha.ha... :|

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  11. One mole of paper would make a stack that would reach to the moon more than 80 billion times

    ReplyDelete
  12. Here is a link to a yahoo answers page with more avogadro's number/mole day facts:

    http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071022111406AAWQXT0

    One of the ones listed on this page is "One mole of paper would make a stack that would reach to the moon more than 80 billion times."

    Also, Avogadro was a lawyer before he studied physics. (kind of random)

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  13. Avogadro's number of kilograms is just over 20 times the mass of the earth

    ReplyDelete
  14. Q: What did Avogadro get when he mixed ice cream, chocolate syrup, and milk together?

    A: A chocolate Molted

    mmmm ice cream :p

    ReplyDelete
  15. Q: What did Avogadro teach his students in math class?



    A: Moletiplication

    YAY MATH.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The Ten Commolements

    1)Thou shalt not use 6.02 x 1023 in vain.

    2)Thou shalt not use the term mole if thou has no true knowledge of the term mole.

    3)Thou shalt not kill a mole.

    4)Thou shalt not covet your neighbor's mole.

    5)Thou shall always remember to celebrate Mole Day.

    6)Thou shalt not disparage Mole Day.

    7)Thou shalt not use a mole out of season.

    8)Thou shalt always honor the one who introduced thou to Mole Day.

    9)You shalt always keep sacred 10/23.

    10)Thou shalt always remember these commolments or thou will never properly celebrate Mole Day.

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  17. when i hear avogardos number, the first thing that comes to mind is 6.02 x 10^23 and i can go where about with that is trying to solve something

    ReplyDelete
  18. when i first heard about mole and avogadro's number, i thought it was interesting that mole can be used as a unit to convert from/to volume of gas, mass, and number of representative particles.
    I found a joke
    a mole which hangs from the ceiling; also a term describing anything which can move rapidly inderground-molebile :)

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  19. I hate avacados and Avogadros #. because it sounds like avacados..........

    Lady: "why do you have a mole on your arm"
    Man: "because I like them"
    (man has a tattoo of avogadros #) on his arm ahahhaha MOl

    knock knock?
    Whoes there?
    Mol
    Mol who?
    #s can walk in answer the door. so why did u answer?

    Arianna (ps I made up these awesome jokes)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Q: What do you get if you have Avogadro's number of donkeys?
    A: molasses (a mole of asses)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Q: Why is it bad to tell mole jokes?

    A: It's mole-itically incorrect

    ReplyDelete
  22. Q: What was Avogadro's favorite Indian tribe?
    A: The Molehawks :-)

    The mole is also called "gram-molecular weight"

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  23. Avogadro's number of inches is 1,616,434 light years, or across our galaxy and back 8 times.
    http://web.vu.union.edu/~stodolan/mole.html

    ReplyDelete