October is a busy month for chemists. This year, October in Chemistry has the Nobel Prize, National Chemistry Week and Mole Day!
Nobel Prize medallion awarded to Nobel Prize recipients.
Nobel Prize – October 6
The Nobel Prizes are typically announced at the beginning of the month of October. This year, the Prizes will be announced October 6 through October 10. Physiology and Medicine on Monday, Physics on Tuesday, Chemistry on Wednesday, Peace on Thursday and Economics on Friday. Literature will be announced at a later date.
The scheduled announcement for the Chemistry Prize is “11:45 am CET at the earliest”. You can watch the announcement online on the nobelprize.org’s YouTube channel.
National Chemistry Week – October 19-25
Every year, the American Chemical Society arranges National Chemistry Week to raise awareness of the important role of chemistry in our lives. This year, National Chemistry Week is October 19-25 and the theme is “The Sweet Side of Chemistry: Candy”.
The ACS’s National Chemistry Week website contains links to community events, educational resources and other useful information about National Chemistry Week. One of my favorites is the kid’s hands on activity book (PDF file). You don’t have to be a chemist to enjoy sweet chemistry. Check it out for yourself.
Mole Day Mascot Credit: National Mole Day Foundation www.moleday.org
Mole Day – October 23
Mole Day is an unofficial holiday. Chemists like to recognize what many consider ‘their unit’ of measurement—the mole. One mole of something is equal to Avogadro’s number of something, or 6.022×1023 somethings. Mole day is celebrated on 10-23 each year from 6:02 am to 6:02 pm.
Although the celebration is unofficial, there is a National Mole Day Foundation that attempts to get all people enthusiastic about chemistry. They have assigned themes to Mole Day celebrations since 1991. This year’s theme is Mole-O’Ween. This should prove a nice addition to the National Chemistry Week celebration involving candy chemistry.