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?

Taoist Wisdom For Inner Peace

8 Ways To Enter The Present Moment

View All

Saving Albatross Chicks From Tsunamis and Rising Seas | National Geographic

The Laysan albatross chicks that we’re raising, they have a lot of personality. When you first look at them, you wouldn’t realize how much variation there is among different birds, but there really is. A feisty one, aren’t you? Yeah, he’s got lots of ener…

Interpreting equations graphically | Mathematics III | High School Math | Khan Academy

Let F of x = 3x - 5 and g of x = x^3 - 4x^2 + x + 6. The graphs of y = F of x and y = G of x are shown below, and we see them right over here. This y = F of x is in, that is, in that purplish color. Let me see if I can get that same purplish color so tha…

Another average velocity and speed example

We are told a seal and a penguin are playing a fun game of catch. The penguin swims leftward nine meters, then dodges rightwards another 12 meters. The penguin swims a total time of eight seconds, so goes to the left for 9 meters and then it goes to the r…

Laplacian computation example