Happy Mole Day!

less than 1m read

·Nov 11, 2024

Hey everybody! Rocco T. Mole here to wish you a Happy Mole Day from all of us at Khan Academy!

Yes, moles! The chemistry concept, not the critter. Now, in case you’ve been living under a rock (like me), a mole is another name for Avogadro’s number which is (approximately) 6.022 times 10 to the 23rd. Kinda like how a “dozen” is another name for 12.

So why do we need a name for such a big number?! Well, we could write it like this: 602,214,129,000,000,000,000,000 (Thank you). But that would take a while! Moles make counting easier for chemists, particularly when talking about atoms or molecules.

So for the number of molecules in a cup of water, you could write an 8 with 24 zeros after it... OR you could just call it 13 moles of water instead! (Thank you Yuki) Isn't that easier?

Now, the moral of this story is: moles are the best! And if you want to learn more about chemistry, or anything, really, head to our website: khanacademy.org.

That's Khan as in Ghenghis, no relation; and Academy, as in academy. Happy Mole Day everyone! You can learn anything!

Are we still–we're not recording, right?

Reflections: graph to algebraic rule | Transformational geometry | Grade 8 (TX) | Khan Academy

How Talking About Your Goals is (secretly) Destroying Your Success

View All

Slope, x-intercept, y-intercept meaning in context | Algebra I | Khan Academy

We’re told Glenn drained the water from his baby’s bathtub. The graph below shows the relationship between the amount of water left in the tub in liters and how much time had passed in minutes since Glenn started draining the tub. And then they ask us a f…

How Are National Park Trips Different From What They Used to Be? | National Geographic

I think that every generation experiences the natural world differently. Like the 50s and 60s, like this glorified Yellowstone, go see the bears. Maybe during my parents’ generation, the park system was sort of blooming and emerging, whereas now it’s a bi…

What If The Sun Disappeared?

Hey, Vsauce. Michael here. Gravity is a property of matter, anything with mass. This includes the Moon, Earth, Jupiter, the Sun, and even you - your body. In fact, if you kinda like somebody, have them stand 3⁄4 of a millimeter away from you. At that dis…

Geoff Ralston and Adora Cheung Discuss Startup School