Atoms? Electrons? Inside us? For my punny mind, it gave me new meanings to be shocked ;)
When in biology we learnt about cells, it was difficult to imagine the red blood corpuscles with iron atoms. Education and learning are perhaps also about stretching one's imaginations. It is easy to walk around with a limited view of the world, but is a challenge to expand that view.
One of the many baffling ideas that we were presented was the Avogadro Constant. Here's a refresher:
The number 6.02 x 10²³ is also called Avogadro’s number. Amedeo Avogadro was an Italian physicist. In 1811, he proposed that equal volumes of any gas at the same temperature and pressure contain the same number of atoms (or molecules). The number is named after him to honor his work.One of the fundamental constants. What would the universe be if any of these constants were even slightly different in magnitude?
I lack the imagination to think of such an alternate universe.
Interestingly, a similar one was in the qualifying exam for doctoral students in engineering; at least, that is what I was told back when I was a graduate student. They were asked to explain at least one effect if the mass of an electron were a value other than what it is. All I could think was, hey, everything will change. I lacked the imagination to explain.
Why this scientific autoethnography?
Thanks to Avogadro, "On Oct. 23, between 6:02 a.m. and 6:02 p.m., chemists celebrate Mole Day."
Get it? 6.02 on 10/23.
Why "mole"? It is a measure of small amounts. Here's an example: "One mole of water with all 6.02 x 10²³ molecules of H₂O occupies slightly more than a tablespoon."
Decades have gone by since those Neyveli days when I first learnt about these concepts. I have forgotten the calculations that we used to do involving moles and grams, and the pleasure in cracking them before others in the class did.
At this point, it is almost like, "who cares!"
We should. Because, if it were not 6.02x10²³ you and I will be very different. Life itself will not be anything as we now experience. Everything in the universe will be different.
How different? I don't know; I lack that level of imagination!
