Alchemy is an ancient legend that tells the story of some great people who were able to transform an object without value into a treasure, one example of which is the transformation of mercury or lead into gold.
Although they had extraordinary skills, these alchemists usually lived modestly and sought knowledge, instead of becoming wealthy merchants. Perhaps the methods they used required a lot of energy or other factors, which is why alchemists are rarely rich even though they can create pure gold.
Gold is a very important metal for humans. In addition to not undergoing oxidation, gold is attractive, has high conductivity, and is good for use in technology implanted in the human body. The weakness of gold is its expensive price due to the limited amount of gold in the world, so it would be great if a method for creating massive and affordable gold could be discovered.
Lead and Mercury is Cheap
Mercury is an element that is often used as a thermometer because of its high sensitivity to temperature changes. However, mercury is also toxic, so its use must be handled with care. This makes only alchemists able to handle this element, rather than the general public.
One of its functions in modern times is for gold mining in gold mines that dig into the ground. So it is a tool for searching for treasure in the earth. Mercury is mixed with gold ore to form gold-mercury amalgam, which is then heated so that the impurities evaporate and pure gold is produced.
In addition, mercury has another attraction for modern scientists because it has only 1 atom different from gold. Therefore, there is a possibility of transforming mercury into gold rather than other metal elements.
Change It To Gold
In the past, many methods were spread by word of mouth by famous alchemists on how to make gold from other metals. However, it has not been proven whether it is pure gold or just a mixed metal resembling the color of gold.
Gold has its own atomic number and properties that differentiate it from other metals. Gold has an atomic number of 79 and has properties that cannot be oxidized and has high conductivity exceeding copper. This makes it a treasure for most people on earth due to its benefits for humans.
One way to change the form of other metals into gold is to modify the atomic number or the number of protons in a metal element. For example, Mercury, which has an atomic number of 80, can be turned into gold by simply removing one proton from the mercury element. Scientists conducted experiments by bombarding mercury with a large number of neutrons to remove one atom in mercury, and the result was radioactive gold. Therefore, gold through this process is not suitable for use as jewelry but can still be used for other purposes.
Is It Costly ?
In ancient times, alchemists were able to easily transform other metals into gold, but they did not do so on a massive scale. Perhaps the energy cost required was very high or perhaps the resulting gold was still radioactive, making it dangerous to produce and mass-produce for wealth. This presents a challenge for mass-producing this treasure.
In modern methods, although it is possible to transform mercury into gold, the cost of changing the atomic number of an element and making it the desired element is very high, at least thousands of dollars for a few milligrams of gold.
Nevertheless, there are still some scientists in the world who are experimenting to find the most efficient and inexpensive method of transforming other metals into gold, especially gold that can be used for jewelry.
What Gold Do To Civilization
Gold has properties that make it resistant to oxidation and attractive, making it a popular currency and jewelry material since ancient times. As a result of its use, human civilization has flourished to this day. The jewelry industry alone employs many people, especially in the creative economy sector. That's why many people also hunt for this treasure in the ground, both in the form of historical artifacts and in mining.
The history of using gold as a jewelry material also proves its body-friendly properties, making it widely used as a material for implanted medical devices. It would be great to find a method for mass-producing gold by transforming other metals into gold, just as alchemy did in ancient times, especially from mercury, which is abundant on Earth.
Recently, a Japanese scientist has even discovered a way to make solar panels from gold that can generate up to 850 watts per square meter. If this device can be mass-produced, humanity can fully switch to environmentally friendly energy because currently solar panels cannot even reach 200 watts per square meter.
