University of Central Florida Libraries
5/22/2013
http://library.ucf.edu/
What's a mole? Do you mean the animal, or the sauce, or a "beauty mark"? No: It's a unit (symbolized mol) used to measure the amount of material in a chemical sample.
The mole is defined so that 1 mole of any substance always contains the same number of molecules. This number is approximately 6.02 × 1023, and is known as the Avogadro number. The mole is a more convenient unit in which to measure the amount of a chemical than counting the number of molecules, and it has the same advantages.
The physical scientist Amedeo Avogadro (1776–1856) was the first to use the concept of a molecule.
Where on earth did we find this? McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology in the reference database Credo. You can get to Credo from the library's list of articles and databases.
Happy Mole Day, chemists!
Photo of mole: DanieVDMphotostream
