It's that time of year again, folks.

 

Between 6:02am and 6:02pm in the 10th month on the 23rd day, we celebrate the mole.

 

Question is, how? I'm thinking of perhaps blowing up a mole of something in a spectacular fashion...

how about blowing up a mole of moles.

What mole the animal or the pigmented patch of skin?

What's the molar mass for a mole (either type)?

Is it fair to say that it would be mainly water so you would need to blow up about 18g of "mole" to achieve the target?

2g of H2 would be more fun, or a mole of thermite, perhaps molded into a mole shape with a bit of gum?

With a high molecular mass fuel you would do a lot of damage. Starch can have a mass of a million or so which would give you a tonne of dust exploding. That would make a big hole.

 

How widely publicised is "Mole day?"

Edited October 5, 200817 yr by John Cuthber

We always celebrated june 22, as well as october 27. Didn't know about the 6:02AM - 6:02PM bit though.

 

My chem teacher always gave us an extra credit activity about moles, but that was the extent of celebration.

 

Personally, I like the producing of a mole of water from H2 and O2.

Edited October 5, 200817 yr by big314mp
multiple post merged

React a mole of sodium metal with a mole of chlorine. E.G. 1/2 a mole of Cl2.

React a mole of sodium metal with a mole of chlorine. E.G. 1/2 a mole of Cl2.

 

are you mad? 23 g of sodium? that'd be an enormous reaction. I did it with a gram or two and felt a little scared.

are you mad? 23 g of sodium? that'd be an enormous reaction. I did it with a gram or two and felt a little scared.

 

Do it once per student .

 

My roommate suggested doing some cooking with all ingredient amounts in moles.

 

My roommate suggested doing some cooking with all ingredient amounts in moles.

 

Your ingredients would be limited to homogeneous substances for which you know the molecular weight. Basically, you've got water, sugar, and salt to work with. Yum!

I'd imagine that the molecular weight of flour would be fairly constant (mostly starch). Same for butter (mostly fat). It would be a range of fats, and a range of starches, but it would probably average out to something relatively constant. That's most of what you need for cookies.

 

As to what those molecular weights are, that's a different story. I have no idea.

maybe looking at 300-400g/mol for fats. starches can be massive, like multi kilograms per mol

Averaging a range feels like cheating. You'd have a mole of molecules, maybe, but you wouldn't have a mole of any particular chemical. Figure out how to separate them, and I'll be on board.

This solution isn't great, but here goes:

 

Dissolve a sample of the starch/flour in water, break it down with an enzyme such as amylase, and titrate with benedict's reagent.

 

Perhaps you could also dissolve some starch in water, and then measure it's freezing point, to determine the molarity.

 

I looked up (on wikipedia) that all purpose flour is about 11% gluten (I'm assuming by weight). I think that would be needed to do maths, as gluten wouldn't be caught by the first test, and its not particularly soluble in water either.

 

Both methods would be horribly inaccurate, but they may work.

 

My roommate now suggests that your students bring in guacaMOLE

Edited October 7, 200817 yr by big314mp
multiple post merged

Oh 6.02/10/23 I get it now, i've been ill so I'm a bit slow:) But if someones making a cake I'll have a bit, with a mole of chocolate flakes please!

 

My roommate now suggests that your students bring in guacaMOLE

 

tell your room mate i'm trying to teach my students chemistry, not puns

tell your room mate i'm trying to teach my students chemistry, not puns

 

I extend my humblest apologies for him .

 

A NaOH + HCl titration, for the 1:1 mole ratio?

 

Calculate the moles of zinc (or copper) in a penny, via dissolving the inside out with HCl, and then reweighing?

 

Do baking soda + acid, and then use the volume of the resulting gas to calculate the starting number of moles of reactants?