What is alchemy

For example, there was a space immediately below silicon. He called it germanium. It was not long until the underlying cause of the patterns was discovered: the electron. The particle was discovered in but the crucial experiments were done by Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden a decade later. They fired a stream of helium nuclei at a piece of gold foil. Unexpectedly, many of the nuclei passed straight through, leading to the conclusion that gold atoms were mostly empty space.

Their interpretation, which later proved essentially correct, was that the electrons were orbiting the nucleus, leaving huge tracts of nothingness in between. Reactivity, for example, depends on how easily an atom can gain or lose an electron.

But the electron is something of a double-edged sword. For all the regularity it introduced, the shorthand chemists use to understand its effects is just an approximation. As the quantum revolution gathered pace, scientists also started to probe the atomic nucleus in detail. An example of alchemy are the scientists of the Middle Ages who tried to discover a way to use metals such as mercury and sulfur — to make interesting combinations and attempt to turn them into gold.

An example of alchemy are the scientists of today who use lasers in order to change aluminum and other metals to black, red, or a variety of other colors. He published several pieces bearing on medicine, astrology and alchemy , and attacking the system of Paracelsus.

So far as the numerous works are concerned it is evident that the writers who posed as Rosicrucians were moral and religious reformers, and utilized the technicalities of chemistry alchemy , and the sciences. The Development of Chemistry in Recent Times appeared in , and in he published a work in two volumes on Alchemy in Ancient and Modern Times.

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Sign up now or Log in. Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English. Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Follow us. Learn More About alchemy. Time Traveler for alchemy The first known use of alchemy was in the 15th century See more words from the same century.

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