Once upon a time, when chemistry had not yet reached the level of science, the belief was strong that in nature there was a substance - a real stone of philosophers, which would turn all low metals into gold. It is known that phenomena, just as remarkable, occurred and still occur daily, in the experience of every chemist.
Transmutation of metals as represented by alchemists
The term transmutation dates back to alchemy. Alchemists were looking for a philosopher's stone, capable of transmuting metals - the transformation of base metals into gold. Although alchemists often understood it as a metaphor for a mystical or religious process, some practitioners preferred a literal interpretation and tried to make gold through a physical experiment.
The impossibility of physical transmutation of metals into gold has been discussed among alchemists, philosophers and scientists since the Middle Ages. Pseudo-alchemical transmutation was outlawed and publicly ridiculed since the fourteenth century. Alchemists, such as Michael Mayer and Heinrich Hunrath, wrote treatises revealing fraudulent claims by pseudo-alchemists.
By 1720, there were no longer any respectable figures pursuing the physical transmutation of substances into gold. No one was interested in how to make the transmutation of metal, for faith in this medieval miracle finally faded away. In the 18th century, Antoine Lavoisier replaced the alchemical theory of elements with the modern theory of chemical elements, and John Dalton developed the concept of atoms (from the alchemical theory of corpuscles) to explain various chemical processes. The disintegration of atoms is a separate process involving much greater energies than can be achieved by alchemists.
The alchemist, not knowing anything about the elements, regarded low metals as containing the same elemental substance as gold, but possessed impurities that they had not yet learned to separate from them. The late professor Faraday professed his belief in the possibility of transmutation and even claimed that he had experimented with the goal of discovering a method by which it could be accomplished.
Transmute Elements
Charcoal and diamond are equally considered allotropic forms of carbon, because all that chemical science has so far been able to do is show that they contain a substance that we call carbon. Is it necessary to prove that carbon is a compound. That this connection is not, it seems, according to all existing knowledge, is impossible to prove. But carbon is not alone in its manifestation of this remarkable property. Sulfur, phosphorus, silicon, boron, oxygen, belong to the same category. Ammonium, known as the compound, also has the character of a metal, which is most pronounced in its association with mercury.
This fact was supposed to influence the restoration of faith in the possibility of the conversion of metals. We are undoubtedly on the eve of great discoveries. The attention of chemists was constantly distracted from the study of inorganic chemistry by a tempting field of organic research, from which the richest and most harvest of knowledge had already been obtained. Studies of the real cause of the phenomena of allotropism, which are considered promising, and the discovery of this reason would mark the beginning of a new era in science.
Soul transmutation
However, to go further into the secrets of nature, you need to know the alchemical understanding of the transmutation of metals, expressed through beautiful symbolism and imaginative descriptions. It should be primarily about the seven metals of the alchemists and their transmutation.
Of course, this immediately makes us wonder if we can truly transmute lead into gold. Paracelsus wrote that you do not transmute anything if you cannot transmute yourself in the first place. This tells us that there must be a connection between the inner and outer world. In fact, they say that the production of metallic gold through the transmutation of the lower metal was associated with alchemy as evidence of the transformation, the possibility of which was provided by God himself. It was a sign, evidence that he realized the Gold in himself. But in order to discover gold in yourself, you first need to know what internal metals are. History knows examples of famous transmutations - Papus, Cagliostro and many mysterious magicians of the past are considered examples of changes in the soul, supposedly allowing them to gain immortality.
Alchemy differs from profane chemistry in its metaphysics. The order of consciousness that goes beyond the senses, which leads to the initiatory transmutation of human consciousness. The remarkable analogous correspondences between the transmutation of metals and the transformation of the consciousness of a persistent alchemist are more than just symbolic - they make the phenomenon itself look quite real.
Planetary matching
There is an ancient ancient alchemical concept of concrete correspondences, where a particular metal belonged to a particular planet. That is, metallic lead belonged to Saturn, tin to Jupiter, iron to Mars, silver to the Moon, copper to Venus, mercury to Mercury, and gold to the Sun. This alchemical concept states that planets control their respective metals on Earth. How can planets rule our metals? Can they really impact the earth? If planets act on metals here on Earth, do they also have a physical effect on you and me?
Transmutation these days
Although scientists still do not know how to study the transmutation of metal, nuclear physicists have learned to do something similar with radioactive substances that quickly decay. Transmutation reactions occur in two classes. The first class of reactions leads to a large number of products with a large number of numbers in the formulas; they can include the formation of a heavy compound nucleus, which can decay and split into various elements. The second class of reactions gives individual isolated products directly, without an intermediate compound.
These “cold” or low-energy transmutation reactions are extremely easy to achieve compared to conventional “hot” nuclear reactions, which are supposed to occur in stars or supernova explosions, or only at millions of degrees Celsius.
By 2003, transmutation experiments were thoroughly studied by more than 14 separate laboratories around the world: Peking University and Tsinghua University in China, Lab des Sciences Nucleaire in France, Frascati Laboratory and Lice University in Italy, Hokkaido University, Mitsubishi Corporation, University of Osaka and Shizuoka University in Japan, Luch Research Complex, Tomsk Polytechnic University in Russia, US Portland University, Texas A&M University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the USA.
The minimum requirement for transmutation is a metal hydride film or membrane filled to a high level with hydrogen or deuterium and maintained by a constant flow. The required electrode materials range from carbon, nickel to uranium. The metal hydride can be charged by electrolysis of water using a thin metal film in the form of a cathode, or deuterium gas can be passed through a metal membrane, injecting gas on one side and releasing it on the other. But a variety of experimental conditions were used to initiate or accelerate the reactions, including plasma electrolysis, plasma discharge, laser initiation, and external electric or magnetic fields.
George Miley's team at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the United States is one of the main groups involved in transmutation. They used multilayer thin-film nickel, palladium or titanium, spray-coated on polystyrene microspheres, and loaded to a high level of hydrogen by packing the coated beads in the cathode of the electrolyzer. Nuclear reaction products have been carefully documented by a combination of secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and neutron activation analysis (NAA).
A typical experiment is carried out continuously for 260 hours, which leads to the appearance of a wide range of elements. In the atomic mass of 22-23, 50-80, 103-120 and 200-210, there are four peaks with a high yield. This pattern is generally consistent with the results obtained by other research groups. Unnatural isotopic distributions were found for some elements, which is also a sign of nuclear reactions.
The most commonly reported elements are calcium, copper, zinc and iron. They have been discovered in more than 20 different experiments. Forty percent of the least frequently observed elements were rare-earth elements from the lanthanoid group: lutetium, terbium praseodymium, europium, samarium, gadolinium, dysprosium, holmium, neodymium and ytterbium.
There were other effects associated with nuclear transmutation. These include energetic charged particles, proton emissions (~ 1.6 MeV) and alpha (~ 16 MeV) and low-quality emission X-rays. At the same time, excess heat was also produced. Based on calculations of the binding energy, Miley concluded that the rate of transmutation correlates well with the produced excess energy.
Transmutations were obtained with both light and heavy aqueous solutions, but heavy water, apparently, under certain conditions gives a greater amount of transmutation products. However, while nuclear physicists make the transmutation of metals (albeit radioactive) a reality, players have the feeling of being virtual alchemists, implementing something similar in the Thaumcraft mod for the popular Minecraft game.
Thaumcraft Minecraft Mod
This mod has evolved over 5 years to become one of the most popular mods in the Minecraft universe and the most popular mod focused on magic. He adds a lot of interesting materials for the game, many new mechanics, mobs, biomes, and even a whole dimension. It contains a complex and detailed game guide for almost the entire mod. One of the most significant features of the Taumcraft mod is the transmutation of metal.
The mod adds a lot of machines to work with both magical and non-magical content that can be fully automated. Most machines interact with pipes, ducts, and other automation mechanisms. For more complex actions, the mod is proud to present its unique Golemania - the concept of creating and operating golems - magic robots. They can do almost everything that the player desires, even that which cannot yet be done by technical mods.
In addition, most blocks and mobs are very detailed, smooth multiblocks and custom mob shapes can please even the most demanding gamer. The armor added by this mod also has 3D textures, which makes it really spectacular, allowing the owner to catch admiring glances while playing on the server.
Many are interested in how to study metal transmutation in Taumcraft 4.2. Most of the content, including the ability to transmute, can be unlocked in about 10 hours of exciting gameplay, but most players spend hundreds of hours building various complex installations, wonderful builds and collecting rare blocks and objects that are limited only by the player’s imagination.
None of the content provided by this mod is a violation of the balance of the game, most of them are very well balanced even with other mods and can never cause a conflict. But this mod adds so many convenient things that using all of this will make the gameplay noticeably easier.
Even if the player does not have enough hundreds of new elements, blocks, mobs, etc., dozens of different add-ons can be installed for them, some of them are small and are mainly focused on adding even more comfort to the gameplay. Large add-ons, in turn, add very powerful tools, weapons, armor and even a separate dimension, which is a real paradise for a miner.
You can talk about this amazing fashion for a very long time, but it is always better to play it yourself.
Metal Transmute in Thaumcraft 4.2.3.5
The Basic Transmutation ability allows you to turn other materials into gold nuggets that you can use to create gold bars. Use sand to make sandstone, and then use it to create smooth sandstone. When you study the skills of alchemy and the properties of metals, be sure that you can stumble upon a way to turn base metals into gold.
Now you can turn base metals, such as iron, into gold nuggets. However, transformation is impossible without costs and losses, but there isn’t much gold, is it?
Crucible for transmutation
Crucible is the earliest way to harness the power of the alchemy aspect, including transmutation. To create a crucible, you can simply put the cauldron in the world and right-click on any of the sticks. To use it, you must first provide a source of heat under the boiler: fire (possibly from burning bowels), lava or magic flame (safer). Then use a bucket to fill the boiler with water and make sure that you have examined the recipe that you want to use.
Iron transmutation
You can learn how to “multiply” iron by making it from other metals. To do this, you need to have two metals and an iron nugget, as well as a crucible. Note that this recipe will basically prevent the use of iron metal nuggets in the crucible.
Tin Transmutation
You can transmute metals into tin using the same crucible. This is very relevant if you have a large amount of ore that you do not currently need, unlike tin. For everyone who played Taumcraft 4.2.3.5, metal transmutation has always been one of their favorite activities. In version 5, however, it worked much better.