Chemistry - 23 October 2020 - Plague Journal Day 225

Micah 6:8
Romans 12:3-8
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today at 6:02 (AM or PM or both - it's up to you!) we celebrate National Mole Day. That's to approximate Avogadro's number (about 6.022 * 10^23 - get it? 6:02 on 10/23? pretty neat, eh?) the number of atoms or molecules in a mole of that substance. Sorry if you were excited about this being another cooking post. It's hard to beat a nice chicken mole, but that has more syllables than the mole for today. Despite my illustration above, it's also not another post about the Wind in the Willows (one of my all-time favourites!) despite the its having a mole as a lead protagonist.
No, today we celebrate Avogadro and his contributions to chemistry. Without his number, how would we know the concentration of solutions? and is that molar or molal? Oh dear, the mind boggles as the memories return. Mr. Morlan was a great chemistry teacher and a great teacher in general. In fact, he was the source of the closing line I used many times at the end of MYF meetings: "Any questions? comments? sarcastic remarks?" That was a really good year of science learning back at Grosse Pointe North.

Speaking of chemistry, born on October 23, 1940 was Pelé, the fabulous Brasilian footballer. I got to see him play when he was a member of the New York Cosmos back when the NASL was the top pro league in North America. Even though he was one of the greatest players of all time (he still leads in goals for the Brasilian national team after all these years), much of his greatness consisted in making the whole team work as a single unit, as though they were individually parts of a greater whole. It was magical to watch him play, and that way of not thinking of oneself more highly than one ought is a good life lesson outside of sports as well.

Sorry, Cosmos, I'm still an Express fan!

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.