The Avogadro constant

by Ed Sawicki

Girls know science. Here's the story:

A few years ago, I bought a used science book with copyright years of 1860 and 1878. The student who used this book had written her name in it (Meta Heald) and the date September 3, 1891. Other notes I found on scraps of paper between the pages led me to believe that she knew the material quite well.

I brought the book with me to lunch today to show my peeps and I said, “I think students of this time had a better grasp of their science than most kids today.” This led to us discussing science topics.

One of my peeps mentioned the Avogadro constant and tried explaining it. He knew it was the number of molecules that occupied a volume and mentioned a number like 6.14 times ten to the 25th power but didn't know much else. A young lady who looked about 20 years old was wiping down the table next to us. She suddenly spoke up and said, “Excuse me, but the number is 6.022 times ten to the 23rd power.”

I was a little surprised. I asked her what that number represented and she explained it was the number of molecules that filled a volume of one mole. She then explained that she was in college and that material was on one of her recent tests.

So, it seems that girls/women in 1891 and 2023 do know quite a bit about science.