by Rachelle Reyes

Hello, I’m Ira the Iron mole, and I’m here to you about my life and my people. First of all, I’m an element, but not just any kind of an element, I’m an iron element. You can find me in the Periodic Table of Elements under the atomic number 26. I weigh in at a mere 55.845 grams. The name iron finds its origin in the Anglo-Saxon language. The abbreviation, Fe, derives from the Latin word, "ferrum", which means "iron".

Iron metal is a silvery, lustrous metal which has important magnetic properties. Other adjectives to describe me would be heavy, ductile, and abundantly useful. I’m also a cheap source of metal. Iron is commonly mixed with carbon or other metals. As a pure metal it is very chemically reactive, and it rusts in moist air or at elevated temperatures. Iron is very important to the every day lives of people and animals. Many can find me in their homes. The most common form of iron use is through, a machine called an iron! This iron is used to steam and press garments, to make them wrinkle free.

Iron is significant to the health of people. Iron is essential in the diet because it helps blood carry oxygen throughout the body and also helps eliminate carbon dioxide from the body’s cells. It is also essential for avoiding anemia and maintaining the bloodstream in good health. Iron contributes to quick thinking and gives the body more energy. Now you ask, "Where can I find iron in my diet?". Well, iron can be found in foods such as liver, yeast, barley, whole wheat, and kidney beans. If you don’t like those types of foods, iron is also rich in soybeans, lean meats, bran, eggs, lentils, oysters, prunes, and raisins. Mmmm, doesn’t that sound really good? Many green leafy vegetables also contain iron. Remember Popeye who ate a lot of spinach? Well, now we know why he did. He wanted to make sure he got lots of iron into his diet.

Now, I’m not just any type of iron element. I’m an iron mole. A mole is the term used to indicate the quantity of a substance that has a mass in grams numerically equal to its molecular mass. The mass contains Avogardo’s number, 6.02 x 10 . In other words, a mole contains an element’s formula mass as well as Avogardo’s number. Avogardo was an Italian scientist whose works led to the finding of the number 6.02 x 10 . In my case, 1 mole of iron contains 55.8 grams. In a compound, the number of moles of iron would vary based on the amount of iron in the compound.