I didn’t have gloves, and I hadn’t a hat,
Was stuck in a place with no thermostat.
I didn’t even carry a coat, I fear.
My solution? … Complaining, “It’s cold in here!
I wish I could order the temperature higher,
Could turn on a heater or light up a fire.
Alas, there is nothing that I can do
As a helpless and frustrated NO2”
Though I was the one who this sense was delivering,
All of the NO2’s in there were shivering!
“Our ’lectrons are freezing, if I may be frank; it
Would be so great if we just had a blanket!”
So there we all were, still going ballistic,
But one bouncing molecule stayed optimistic.
“I think I can help,” said this soul very sanguine,
“With something I learned from this film about penguins.”
I wished we’d had eyes we could roll at such words.
Was he gonna help us by mimicking birds ?
“I must have your nuclei really befuddled,
But trust me—what we need to do now is huddle.
The penguins, the film showed them making a form
That was tight and compact so they all could stay warm.
So everyone gather together and hug—
Like bundled-up babes, we’ll stay toasty and snug.”
We skeptically followed; each other we neared.
Then something transpired that seemed rather weird.
Our ’lectronic wave functions now rearranged,
As I noticed my nuclear places were changed.
I’d gotten a mate for the very first time; her
Voice was so pretty, “Alas, we’re a dimer!
Your ’lectronic spirits will flourish and soar,
As together we prosper as N2O4!”
Then off together we skillfully glided.
With strangers we rather quickly collided,
And after a bunch of collisions so bold,
I noticed we no longer felt very cold.
So all of us loners, in love did we fall,
And a wave of warmth engulfed us all.
By pairing with mates who were all very sweet,
And then through colliding, we all made some heat!
My mate knew her chemistry; she was quite pleased.
“Energy, from forming our bond, was released.”
Our molecular structure’s now changed, you observed,
But the First Law says energy must be conserved.
So where could that energy presently lurk?
Well, it changes its form, through heat or work.
When all of us huddled, and pairs did meet,
A bit of our energy came out as heat!
The heat could be passed on to make us all warm
Through collisions within this gaseous swarm.
So now we are no longer cold anymore,
Thanks to chemistry, physics, and N2O4.
The crucial equation, if I may trouble you,
Is ‘delta E equals q plus w.’
The use of this tool, it can be quite tricky;
The varying sign conventions are icky!
But once you define all your signs and your system,
The reaction’s heat you’d predict with great wisdom,
So the notion that huddling would keep us from freezin’—
It worked, but for thermochemical reasons.”
So my need for a jacket or coat thus averted,
Our goal reached with energy merely converted.
So if you’ve a challenge you’re trying to win,
The energy needed, it all lies within.
________________________________________
(This poem is from the collection Atomic Romances, Molecular Dances)
