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Northern Illinois University

NIU Office of Public Affairs


News Release

Contact: Tom Parisi, Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-3635

October 17, 2002

NIU chemists celebrate 'Mole Day' with a bang

DeKalb, Ill.--The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Northern Illinois University is inviting the public to two upcoming events.

In celebration of "Mole Day" on Wednesday, Oct. 23, the department will host an evening of chemistry demonstrations beginning at 8 p.m. in Faraday Hall 143. The demonstrations coincide with National Chemistry Week.

"We guarantee to keep the audience awake," said Michael Spires, coordinator for recruitment and public relations in the department.

"A number of the demonstrations planned involve loud noises and plenty of sparks," he said. "But we'll also be working with soap bubbles, colors and luminescent materials. And at the end of the evening, we'll be indulging our sweet tooths and making ice cream cooled by liquid nitrogen. Anyone who stays until the end of the evening gets to sample the product."

The theme for National Chemistry Week this year is "Chemistry Keeps Us Clean," so a number of the demonstrations will involve soap and other cleaning agents. "All these presentations illustrate various properties of matter and the types of chemistry that occur nearly everywhere in daily life," Spires said.

Meanwhile, the NIU Chemistry Club will have its annual glassblowing demonstration and sale at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19. "This demonstration provides a chance to see the ancient art of glassblowing, presented by a master of the art, Dan Edwards," Spires said.

The demonstration will be held in Faraday West 200, and glassware will be on sale in the Faraday West lobby immediately after the demonstration. Anything that remains will be sold on Wednesday, Nov. 20.

For more information on either event, contact Dave Ballantine at (815) 753-6857 or dballant@niu.edu.

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