Isabella Abbott | Features Editor
Oct. 27, 2022
Duquesne’s American Chemical Society hosted its annual Mole Day celebration on Mellon Patio on Monday. Although the chemistry-themed holiday is typically celebrated on Oct. 23, members and students showed up on Monday to see what the day was all about.
Schools around the world participate in this event with chemistry experiments, nerdy desserts and, naturally, games of whack-a-mole. Duquesne’s event consisted of different games and activities like mini golf, tie-dye and a cornhole tournament, as well as a variety of snacks for attendees to enjoy.
Mole Day is celebrated each year on Oct. 23 from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m. because of Amedeo Avogadro’s number, 6.022 x 10 to the 23rd power, which is the number of atoms in one mole. Using this equation, chemists are able to work with extremely small particles which otherwise would be impossible. This is also why the day was made to celebrate moles.
Pratham Patel, the junior executive within the society, explained the basics and the importance of a mole.
“It’s just such a fundamental number that’s used,” Patel said. “It’s a very important number for any chemist to know.
“It was such a revolutionary number when they first figured it out, and it helped build the periodic table. All the numbers you see that are related to mass are related back to the mole number.”
Since the society is known for its ability to advance chemistry knowledge throughout the community, this event was the perfect opportunity to do just that. By having a corn-mole tournament, participants were able to enjoy the mole-themed game, as well as compete to win mole-themed prizes.
Although last year’s mole day consisted of a whack-a-mole with inflatable hammers, corn-mole has taken its place in their annual event, according to Serina Tressler, the society’s president.
“Now we do corn-mole and people seem to really like this,” Tressler said. “I think it’s going to be an annual thing.”
Members of the society like Tressler think chemists around the world celebrate this fundamental day because of its ability to bring other chemistry lovers together.
“I think the mole is a really central concept to chemistry in general,” Tressler said. “So I think this is a fun way to bring people together, using something we all use regularly, even though there are so many branches of chemistry.”
Ashley Berdel, a member of the society’s junior executive board, said she thinks the event is worthwhile for anyone who enjoys chemistry.
“I think it’s just a fun thing for us to do because it’s kind of nerdy,” Berdel said. “We use it all the time for our calculations, so it’s just cool for us to have a day that celebrates it.”
Berdel was also excited for the corn-mole tournament, hoping she would win the grand prize of a giant stuffed mole decked out in green safety goggles, a white lab coat and a blue cape that showcased the periodic table.