October 23 is marked as Mole Day to commemorate Avogadro's Number 6.02 x 10²³ which is a basic measuring unit in chemistry. Mole Day was created as a way to foster interest in chemistry. Schools around the world celebrate Mole Day with various activities related to chemistry and/or moles. Mole Day also falls during National Chemistry Week.
What is Mole?
According to the Chemistry Journal, one mole is a mass (in grams) whose number is equal to the molar mass of the molecule. For example, the water molecule has an molar mass of 18, therefore one mole of water weighs 18 grams. Similarly, a mole of neon has a molar mass of 20 grams. In general, one mole of any substance contains Avogadro's Number of molecules or atoms of that substance.
This relationship was first discovered by Amedeo Avogadro and he received credit for this after his death.
Here's a video to know how big is the mole
History behind celebrating Mole Day:
The day originated around the 1980s when an article appeared in "The Science Teacher" explaining the reasoning for wanting a National Mole Day. A retired high school chemistry teacher, Maurice Oehler from Wisconsin, USA, drew inspiration from that article and founded the National Mole Day Foundation.
The National Mole Day Foundation was established by retired high school teacher on May 15, 1991.
Amadeo Avogadro
National Mole Day commemorates the hypothesis of an Italian scientist named Amadeo Avogadro.
Born in 1776, he was one of the noted founders of physical chemistry and was only really given his dues fifty years after his hypothesis was created and after his death.
Avogadro’s Law
He is known for his hypothesis called ‘‘Avogadro’s Law’’ in which pressure and a fixed temperature, equals volumes of gases which hold the same number of molecules.
