How big is a mole? (Not the animal, the other one.) - Daniel Dulek

Translator: Julia Barciela Reviewer: traduceTED USC

OK, today we're going to talk about the mole.

Hoxe imos falar do mol.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "I know what a mole is,

Igual pensades: “É a palabra inglesa para ‘toupa’,

un animaliño peludo que fai furos na terra e desbarata os xardíns”.

it's a small furry creature that digs holes in the ground and destroys gardens."

Se cadra pensas que se refire á espulla con pelos da cara da túa tía.

And some of you might be thinking that it's a growth on your aunt's face with hairs sticking out of it.

Well, in this case, a mole is a concept that we use in chemistry to count molecules,

Pero, neste caso, o mol é un concepto químico para contar moléculas,

atoms, just about anything extremely small.

átomos ou calquera cousa moi pequena.

Have you ever wondered how many atoms there are in the universe?

Algunha vez pensaches cantos átomos hai no universo?

Or in your body? Or even in a grain of sand?

Ou no teu corpo? Ou mesmo nun gran de area?

Os científicos quixeron buscar respostas,

Scientists have wanted to answer that question,

pero como contamos algo tan pequeno como o átomo?

but how do you count something as small as an atom?

Well, in 1811, someone had an idea that if you had equal volumes

Pois ben, en 1811, alguén propuxo que, se se tiñan volumes iguais

de gases á mesma temperatura e presión,

of gases, at the same temperature and pressure,

they would contain an equal number of particles.

deberían ter igual número de partículas.

His name was Lorenzo Romano Amedeo Carlo Avogadro.

Esa persoa foi Lorenzo Romano Amadeo Carlo Avogadro.

I wonder how long it took him to sign autographs.

A saber o que tardaba en asinar autógrafos.

Unfortunately for Avogadro, most scientists didn't accept the idea of the atom,

Por desgraza, moitos científicos non aceptaron a idea do átomo

and there was no way to prove he was right.

e non podía demostrar que tiña razón.

There was no clear difference between atoms and molecules.

Non había unha clara diferenza entre átomos e moléculas.

Most scientists looked at Avogadro's work as purely hypothetical,

Moitos científicos acharon

o traballo de Avogadro unha hipótese e non lle deron importancia.

and didn't give it much thought.

But it turned out he was right! By late 1860,

Pero resulta que estaba no certo! A finais de 1860,

a hipótese de Avogadro confirmouse e o seu traballo serviu como base

Avogadro was proven correct, and his work helped lay the foundation

da teoría atómica, pero, por desgraza, Avogadro finara en 1856.

for the atomic theory. Unfortunately, Avogadro died in 1856.

Now the thing is that the amount of particles in even small samples

O tema é que a cantidade de partículas mesmo nunha mostra pequena

is tremendous. For example,

é enorme. Por exemplo,

If you have a balloon of any gas at zero degrees Celcius,

se tes un globo con gas a cero graos Celsius

and at a pressure of one atmosphere, then you have precisely

e á presión dunha atmosfera, nese caso terías exactamente

seiscentos dous mil trillóns de partículas de gas.

six hundred and two sextillion gas particles.

That is, you have six with 23 zeros after it particles of gas in the container.

É dicir, tes un 6 seguido de 23 ceros de partículas de gas no recipiente

Or in scientific notation, 6.02 times 10 to the 23rd particles.

ou, en anotación científica, 6,02 por 10 elevado a 23 partículas.

This example is a little misleading,

Este exemplo é enganoso,

because gases take up a lot of space due to the high kinetic energy

xa que os gases ocupan moito espazo debido á alta enerxía

of the gas particles, and it leaves you thinking atoms are bigger than they really are.

das partículas, e fainos crer que os átomos son máis grandes do que son.

Instead, think of water molecules.

Pensa mellor en moléculas de auga.

If you pour 18.01 grams of water into a glass,

Se botas 18,01 gramos de auga nun vaso,

which is 18.01 milliliters, which is like three and a half teaspoons of water,

o que equivale a 18,01 mililitros, unhas 3 culleradas e media de auga,

you'll have 602 sextillion molecules of water.

terías 602 mil trillóns de moléculas de auga.

Since Lorenzo Romano - uh, never mind - Avogadro was the first one to come up with this idea,

Como Lorenzo Romano… en fin, Avogadro foi o primeiro en propor esta idea,

scientists named the number 6.02 times 10 to the 23rd after him.

os científicos nomearon o número 6,02 por 10 elevado a 23 na súa honra.

It is simply known as Avogadros's number.

Hoxe coñécese como o número de Avogadro.

Agora, regresemos o mol. Ao “mole” non.

Now, back to the mole. Not that mole.

This mole. Yep, this number has a second name.

Ao mol. Si, este número tamén ten outro nome:

The mole. Chemists use the term mole

mol. Os químicos usan o termo mol

to refer to the quantities that are at the magnitude of 602 sextillion.

para referirse ás cantidades que son da magnitude de 602 mil trillóns.

This is known as a molar quantity.

É a cantidade molar.

Atoms and molecules are so small, that chemists have bundled them into groups called moles.

Os átomos e as moléculas son tan miúdos que se xuntan en grupos nomeados moles.

Moles are hard for students to understand because they have a hard time

Aos estudantes cústalles entender os moles porque non son quen

picturing the size of a mole,

de imaxinar o tamaño dun mol

or of 602 sextillion.

ou de 602 mil trillóns.

It's just too big to wrap our brains around.

É demasiado grande para o noso cerebro.

Remember our 18.01 milliliters of water?

Lembras os nosos 18,01 mililitros de auga?

Well, that's a mole of water.

Iso é exactamente un mol de auga.

But how much is that?

Pero canto é iso?

Exactly what does 602 sextillion look like?

Que aspecto teñen 602 mil trillóns exactamente?

Maybe this'll help.

Quizais isto te axude.

Exchange the water particles for donuts.

Cambia as partículas da auga por rosquillas.

If you had a mole of donuts, they would cover the entire earth

Se tiveses un mol de rosquillas, cubrirían por completo a Terra

to a depth of eight kilometers,

cunha profundidade de oito quilómetros,

which is about five miles.

unhas cinco millas.

Moitos cafés ías precisar.

You really need a lot of coffee for that.

Se tiveses un mol de balóns de baloncesto, crearías un novo planeta

If you had a mole of basketballs, you could create a new planet

the size of the earth.

do tamaño da Terra.

If you received a mole of pennies on the day you were born and spent a million dollars

Se che dan un mol de céntimos ao nacer e gastas un millón de dólares

cada segundo até que finases aos 100 anos, aínda terías máis do 99,99 %

a second until the day you died at the age of 100, you would still have more than 99.99%

of your money in the bank.

do teu diñeiro no banco.

De acordo. Xa temos unha idea do grande que é o mol.

OK. Now we sort of have an idea how large the mole is.

So how do we use it?

Entón, como o usamos?

Abraiaríache saber que os químicos o usan do mesmo xeito

You might be surprised to know that chemists use it the same way

you use pounds to buy grapes, deli meat, or eggs.

que usas os quilos para comprar uvas, embutidos ou ovos.

When you go to the grocery store, you don't go to the deli counter

Cando vas á chacinaría, non vas ao mostrador

and ask for 43 slices of salami, you buy your salami by the pound.

e pides 43 rodas de salame; mercas o salame por quilos.

When you buy your eggs, you buy a dozen eggs.

Cando compras ovos, mercas unha ducia de ovos.

When we hear the word dozen, we probably think of the number 12.

Cando escoitamos a palabra ducia, pode que pensemos no número 12.

We also know that a pair is two,

Tamén sabemos que un par son dous,

a baker's dozen is 13,

unha ducia en panadería son 13,

unha grosa son 144 e unha resma de papel son… alguén o sabe?

a gross is 144, and a ream of paper is - anybody?

A ream is 500.

A resma son 500 pregos de papel.

Well, a mole is really the same thing.

Pois ben, o mol é basicamente o mesmo.

For a chemist, a mole conjures up the number 6.02 times 10 to the 23rd,

Para os químicos, o mol trae á mente o número 6,02 por 10 elevado a 23,

not a fuzzy little animal. The only difference is

non un animaliño peludo. A única diferenza é

that the other quantities are more familiar to us.

que as outras cantidades sóannos máis.

So there you have it - the story of the mole,

Esta é a historia do mol,

Avogadro, basketballs, and how to buy salami at the grocery store.

de Avogadro, dos balóns de baloncesto e de como mercar salame na chacinaría.