Alchemistry

Since man’s entry into the iron age from stone age, he has always experimented with changing one metal to another. Once he came up with the system of assigning value to the metals, the need and greed in mutating an inexpensive metal to another far more valuable metal increased. Men lost their entire lives trying to figure our how to change iron to gold. Now is it really possible? At least theoretically? When the nature can make diamond out of coal, can’t we make gold out of iron?

Before answering that let us see what gives a metal its properties, color, luster, durability, chemical inertness or its propensity to react. From chemistry 101, we know that at the fundamental level, all the elements are made of atoms which in turn has electrons, neutrons and protons. The difference between different elements is that, the number of electrons, neutrons and protons in each element is different. This basic difference in the number of sub atomic particles and the difference in orbitals of electrons that are revolving around the nucleus brings about the difference in properties of each element.

So if we could change the number of subatomic particles and orbitals, one element can change to another. The only problem is that the energy required to change the number sub atomic particle and changing the orbitals could be huge that it would be uneconomical.

If it costs more than gold to make gold out of iron, why would i even try that? It is also logical to see in plain terms that, the value of diamond arises from the work of nature that changed the atomic structure of coal into that of diamond in a time of about millions of years. If man wants to do nature’s millions of years of work in few days, then wouldn’t it cost more than what it cost nature to do?

So is Alchemistry a real science? Yes it is! Is it possible? Yes! Is it economically possible? No!