Research Proposal Sample on Alchemy

What's the Relation of Alchemy to Physics?

ABSTRACT

At first, physics and alchemy are completely unrelated. Physics is just a fundamental science which explains the laws of nature and it is built on solid scientific research and validated theories. Alchemy is not regarded as being a science since its methods of research are not even close to being scientific. Alchemy is recognized as a pseudoscience, representative that (alchemists) tried to create the Philosopher’s Stone, which theoretically could turn any metal into gold. The only thing that connects those two areas of knowledge is looking for ways to get a handle on and transform matter. The difference is that alchemists failed because mission. With the aid of literature review, I will examine the works of alchemy in the context of physics, namely transmutation as a method of changing one element into still another. It should supply a clear comprehension of the peculiarities, difficulties, and prospects with this technique. The outcome of the investigation should explain the place of transmutation in the context of physics. The purpose of this study is always to find out whether alchemist transmutation is possible in line with the laws of physics.

INTRODUCTION

As is known, alchemy has existed for greater than a thousand of years, and the peak of its activity falls on the center Ages. It had been during this period of world history when alchemists actively developed the concepts of transmutation, the philosophical stone, and eternal life. According to their theory, every thing in the world originated from a single fundamental element, that was assumed to be gold. Alchemists always believed that elements without exception have a vital energy, that is, they grow, develop, born, and die. In this context, gold was perceived as an ideal element. Indeed, gold has many advantages compared to other metals. It never rusts, its color never fades, and due to its flexibility, it does not lend itself to destruction. Hence, the alchemists believed that gold possesses some magic power of infinite value. That is why they wanted to develop a philosopher’s stone. According to its characteristics, the philosopher’s stone was some sort of red or orange substance that does not have a definite shape and smell. This stone, because the alchemists thought, could raise everything it touches in to an absolute. That's, if the philosopher’s stone touches any metal, it could immediately become the absolute metal, that's, gold. If it touches a person, he then or she'll acquire the properties of a primary metal, that is, would obtain immortality, get rid of any human diseases and vulnerabilities.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, alchemy became a fairly popular profession, and many wealthy and influential personalities considered it their duty to possess one or perhaps a whole team of alchemists who could provide them with gold or even immortality. At the same time, there is a growing number of frauds who called themselves alchemists, but in fact, they just wanted to make money. They covered any metal with gilding and sold it as gold. Due to a large number of such affairs, the Pope issued to prohibit any activity related to alchemy. Since then, alchemy was considered a pseudoscience and its works were ignored for hundreds of years. The goal of this research is to learn whether alchemical transmutation can be done according to the laws of physics.

literature review

Modern scientists usually do not recognize alchemists as boffins, and there are lots of reasons for that. However , in his book “The Philosopher’s Stone: Alchemy and the Secret Research for Exotic Matter, ” Joseph Farrell argues that alchemists gave birth to modern scientific methods and were first who began to research the problem and its states. Farrell is convinced that modern physicists have a whole lot in common with ancient alchemists. He implies that physicists use ’coded language’ (mathematical symbols and formulas) which is not known to ordinary people. Exactly the same situation could be observed with alchemists and their writings which were recognizable only to them. The same parallel can be attracted to experiments. Quite simply, alchemists were ancient prototypes of modern physicists. More over, alchemists done many problems which modern physicists make an effort to resolve today.

As is known, Newton is one of the greatest physicists of most times as he made a great contribution to the understanding of phenomena of nature, which later became a base for modern physics. One more fact known about Newton is that he was fond of alchemy and many of his discoveries were built on the ancient alchemical texts. Prajit K. Basu, the author of “Newton’s physics in the context of his works on chemistry and alchemy” (1990), researched this issue and came to interesting conclusions. The writer regarded four different methods to Newton’s works in the context of alchemy and found out that Newton’s theories of optics and movement are greatly influenced by his alchemical research.

Michel Casse argues that all matter existing in the universe have a typical origin. Ergo, it can be changed from one state to another and from one element to another. His work “Stellar Alchemy: The Celestial Origin of Atoms” discusses peculiar traits of atoms and argues that alchemy paved the way in which for both modern chemistry and physics. “However, the key of transmutation did not lie in chemistry and the peripheral electrons that determine the chemical properties of the atom. Instead, the answer to this mystery had to be sought in the nucleus of the atom and the strong and weak nuclear interactions which organise and structure it. The physical and chemical properties of an atom are based on the number and configuration of electrons in its electronic retinue” (Casse, Michel 64). The author discusses the process of transmutation, which originates from alchemists, and states and alchemists gave birth to modern issues existing in chemistry and physics.

Mark Stavish can also be convinced that a lot of of the present day properties of physics are based on alchemists’ experiments. “Physics and chemistry are indebted to these early ‘puffers’ because they are despairingly called, for from their hours of sweat and travail, and host of modern advances came: porcelain, alcohol distillation, acids, salts, and a variety of metallic compounds, will be the results of early alchemical experiments” (Stavish, Mark 1997). In his text called “Alchemy, It’s Not only for the center Ages Anymore, ” the writer also discusses the relations between quantum physics and alchemy. That he further identifies certain documents proving that the theories of alchemists have a genuine scientific application.

In 2004, several Japanese physicists headed by Yasuhiro Iwamura intended to learn whether transmutation of elements is possible wanting to transmute Barium into Samarium. For their experiment, they used Pd complexes to increase the atomic mass of Barium. “In these experiments, the atomic mass increase was 12 and atomic number increase was 6” (Iwamura, Yasuhiro et al. ). Therefore , physicists proved that transmutation can be done and therefore, it ought to be possible to control atomic mass turning one element in to another.

In the beginning of the XX century, scientists labored on the idea of the transmutation of different metals into gold. There are also statements about the chemical transmutation of mercury in to gold (which never confirmed yet). Alchemists’ major purpose was to transmute lead into gold. The atomic number of lead is 82, and for gold, it's 79. For that reason the transmutation of lead into gold requires changing the number of protons. As it was said, it cannot be achieved using chemical reactions. Nevertheless , physicists possess some ideas upon this account. Glenn T. Seaborg proved it is possible to transmute Bismuth (which has got the same structure as lead) into gold: “The link between cross section measurements for the reactions 209Bi (12C, X) Au, E = 4. 8 and 25. 2 GeV and 209Bi (20Ne, X) Au, E = 8. 0 GeV are reported” (Aleklett, K. et al. 1044). For that reason it is an additional proof that nuclear transmutation is possible.

An additional option is biological transmutation (change of just one element in to another in living organisms). Antoine Lavoisier, a well-known chemist of the XVIII century, argued that elements cannot be synthesized or created. He conducted dozens of experiments proving that transmutation is impossible regarding chemical reactions. However , “From 1960 to 1980, Kervran reported the astounding link between his research showing that living plants were able to accomplish limited transmutation of elements” (Biberian, Jean-Paul 634). It hypothetically ensures that chemical transmutations are also possible in certain conditions.

Methods

Probably the most efficient way for this research will be a literature review. There are lots of points of view on alchemy as the progenitor of modern physics and also have analyzed plenty of sources; you'll be able to establish a link between these fields of science. Also, overview of the literature will help to learn a lot of new facts about alchemy and the annals of its development, since to date, alchemy is considered pseudoscience, and you can find not valuable studies in its field. Using this method of research, you'll be able to analyze all potential points of contact between alchemy and physics and find out what's common between them. In this study, I hope to learn whether the activities of modern physicists in neuro-scientific transmutation derive from the works of alchemists hundreds of years ago. Each source will be thoroughly studied and verified for reliability. The reality and evidence found in these sources will undoubtedly be analyzed in the context of the study question.

Results

The atom is really a kind of a miniature solar system, where “planets” act like electrons with a negative charge, revolve round the “sun, ” the nucleus, which is built-into the turn by two types of particles: neutrons (uncharged) and protons (positively charged). Each chemical element is characterized correctly by the amount of protons its atoms contain. For example , a helium atom contains two protons, among lithium contains three protons, one of coal, six protons, one of gold, 47, and something of uranium, 92. On the other hand, the number of neutrons contained in the nucleus of a component is not always the same. Like a natural oxygen atom possesses eight protons and may have atoms with eight, nine, or ten neutrons in the nucleus. These sibling particles, referred to as isotopes, have the same chemical properties.

Ergo, the transmutation of a feature requires that there be described as a change within its nucleus, and particularly in how many protons. It's sufficient, for that reason to remove a proton to the mercury atom (80 protons) or even to add a proton to a platinum atom (79 protons) to form a gold atom (79 protons). A question appears just how to incorporate or snatch protons into the nucleus of an atom. Let's assume that the core is a fully packed subway car, which opens its doors simply to accept more passengers (protons or neutrons) if they are strong enough to push their occupants. Conversely, an occupant of the vehicle (proton or neutron) should be able to leave if it has got the necessary force to make means for the rest of the passengers (protons and neutrons). In both cases, passengers, i. e., neutrons or protons, are required to possess sufficient energy to over come the nuclear forces (wagon passengers) that prevent their passage or exit from the core of the atom (wagon) that is wished to transmute. An atom may be transmuted by hitting particles or atoms at high velocity. Accelerating a particle is increasing its velocity by some mechanism that imparts energy to it, such as a particle accelerator or even a nuclear reactor.

An accelerator has a particle, accelerates it using electric and magnetic fields, and letting an element to be transmuted. Accelerators work, in principle, much like a television. In this, a filament at high temperature, that way of a bulb, releases electrons, which are accelerated towards an optimistic electrode. Finally, magnets guide these electrons to concentrate in a beam and bring them to the screen. Analogously, an accelerator has an ion generator (electrons in the case of the television), made out of the emission of radio waves from atoms in gaseous form. We call ions of the atom that have lost or gained one or more electrons. Ions are therefore definitely or negatively charged atoms. These ions are then driven and so accelerated towards a counter electrode from the ion charge as a result of the forces of attraction and repulsion brought on by the electric field applied within the accelerator. The focusing or concentration of the ions towards the material to be transmuted is also produced by magnetic fields; that is, magnets. Finally, at the exit of the accelerator, the ions collide on the white material, producing the transmutation of its constituent elements. This method is commonly called a nuclear reaction, and provides rise properly to the production of artificial radioisotopes, i. e., they do not exist in nature and are produced by human. Particularly, when two different atoms are joined together to be a heavier element, reference is built to a fusion reaction.

Conclusion

The heritage of alchemy is underestimated in modern science. It is worth to mention that modern physics has a lot in common with the experiment of medieval alchemists. One of many major purposes of alchemists was turning less gold and silver into gold. According to their hypothesis, gold was might element of other matter in the universe. Therefore , the objective of alchemy was to find a means of changing one element in to another. They lacked necessary technologies and equipment that are offered in modern science. The method of changing one element into still another is called transmutation, and it is popular in current research in physics. In terms of physicists learned how to assist atoms, they understood that alchemical transmutation is possible. Alchemists failed as a result of lack of technological advancement and attempts to attain transmutation using chemical reactions.

Considering that the beginning of the XX century, boffins started to developed theories and hypothesis about how precisely transmutation may be realized regarding physical experiment. It is also undeniable that first steps in this direction were produced by alchemists. In 1941, boffins experimented bombarding atoms of mercury with high-speed particles. In result, they got a small but observable percentage of gold. For that reason after fifty per cent of a thousand years, the mission of alchemists was finished. However , this experiment required 30, 000 volts to accelerate the particles to the required speed. Consequently, the price of the experiment exceeded the expense of obtained gold in hundreds of thousands time. The transmutation was considered possible but impractical ever since then. In our time, the development of quantum physics and new information about atomic nucleus structure, the scientists come back to transmutation yet again. It can help to eliminate such an issue as nuclear waste. Some radioactive elements do not decay for huge amounts of years contaminating the environment. With the development of transmutation methods, such elements may be disintegrated within several seconds.

Based on the results of the literature review, it is possible to conclude that transmutation can be realized using physics. The technique that is the most practical for this function is a fusion reaction. It could be done with assistance from acceleration of particles using magnets. In results, this technique is with the capacity of changing the amount of protons in the nucleus of an atom and, as a result, transmute one element into yet another.

Works Cited

Aleklett, K. et al. “Energy Dependence Of 209Bi Fragmentation In Relativistic Nuclear Collisions. ” Physical Review C, vol 23, no . 3, 1981, pp. 1044-1046. American Physical Society (APS), doi: 10. 1103/physrevc. 23. 1044.
Basu, Prajit K. “Newton’S Physics In The Context Of His Works On Chemistry And Alchemy. ” Indian Journal Of History Of Science, vol 26, number 3, 1990.
Biberian, Jean-Paul. “Biological Transmutations. ” Current Science, vol 108, no . 4, 2015, pp. 633-635.
Cassé, Michel. Stellar Alchemy. Nyc, Cambridge Academy Press, 2003.
Farrell, Joseph P. The Philosophers’ Stone. Port Townsend, WA, Feral House, 2009.
Iwamura, Yasuhiro et al. “Observation Of Nuclear Transmutation Reactions Induced By D2 Gas Permeation Through Pd Complexes. ” Eleventh International Conference On Condensed Matter Nuclear Science, 2004.
Stavish, Mark. “Alchemy, It’S Not merely For The center Ages Anymore. ” Atlantis Rising, 1997, pp. 1-6.