Editor’s note: The writer of this story is program coordinator for the Kent chapter of the Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society.
Taylor Swift, Beetlejuice and Bill Nye all ate candy, watched science demonstrations and saw pumpkins explode as part of the chemistry and biochemistry department’s Chem-O-Ween event Friday.
Well, really, attendees – which included students, faculty, staff and community members – dressed in costumes to celebrate Mole Day and National Chemistry Week in Williams Hall and the Integrated Sciences Building.
“This is where careers begin,” said Christopher Fenk, chair of the department of chemistry and biochemistry. “We hope that people maybe get a little interested, and maybe they get interested enough to say, ‘Gee, that’s really interesting that you can get all that information just from the periodic table and a couple of numbers and knowing what a mole is.’”
The American Chemical Society (ACS) runs its annual National Chemistry Week campaign from Oct. 15 – 21. The week focuses on spreading awareness about the importance of chemistry, according to ACS’ website.
Mole Day, which is recognized from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m. Oct. 23, honors the mole, which is the basic unit of measurement in chemistry. A mole is also referred to as Avagadro’s number after the scientist Amadeo Avogadro and is equal to 6.02 x 10^23 particles (hence the time and date of the day).
Fenk, who dressed as Franklin Roosevelt, said “a mole describes the number of atomic mass units in a gram of anything,” which makes it essential in chemistry, and worth celebrating.
“We tried to find some happy compromise, and the stockroom students wanted to have some fun with Halloween, so we combined Mole Day and Chem-O-Ween,” he said.
Outside, Chemical Laboratory Coordinator Zach Boggs, lab workers Hannah Petrovsky (dressed as Ms. Frizzle from “The Magic School Bus”) and Kevin Miller (Bill Nye) handled the exploding pumpkins demonstration using a chemical reaction and a torch to create the explosion.
“It’s always a fun demo,” Boggs said. “It’s a good way to draw people in because it’s loud and obnoxious. We do it out here to draw people in and try to get them to go into the building and see the rest of our demos.”
Inside, volunteers ran demonstrations in several of the rooms in Williams Hall. One demonstration included underwater fireworks, others used fire and smoke to teach attendees about chemistry. Volunteers ran a slime-making table and handed out pop with syringes of grenadine. Buckets of candy were placed around the first floor.
Jane Goodall and a scarecrow made an appearance at the event for the costume contest.
Junior psychology major Jade Domos, dressed as a “deer person” inspired by forest spirits, was one of the contest winners. She said she loves learning about chemistry.
“I’m pretty interested in chemistry in general,” she said, “and I always go [all] out every year for Halloween.”
The Kent State chapter of Student Affiliates for the American Chemical Society meets every other Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in Williams Hall 111. Fenk encouraged people to come to the group’s annual Chemsgiving event, featuring a Thanksgiving potluck, to be held in late November. The department will also host its Explore Kent Chemistry Day for prospective students Feb. 3.
Isabella Schreck is editor-in-chief. Contact her at [email protected].
