Questions tagged [alchemy]
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What substances from the body did Boyle try when attempting to produce phosphorus?
According to Wikipedia, Hennig Brand discovered phosphorous. Later, Robert Boyle desired to replicate Brand's discovery, but didn't know that urine was used - only that it involved something that &...
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Are there substances that were initially thought to be elements but are actually compounds?
I am wondering what are good examples of substances that were initially thought to be elements but then were found out to be compounds. How exactly were these substances found to be compounds?
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When Kervran suggested biological transmutation of elements did anyone argue this
My understanding is that Kervran fed chickens a diet lacking in calcium and yet eggs were produced with calcium in their shells.
Two related questions:
Could not the calcium have been from the bones ...
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Was the wide use of mercury in experiments in the 19th century related to alchemy?
We know that Newton's hair samples showed high level of mercury and of course he used mercury like crazy in his alchemy experiments (as did many/all alchemists not just in the west but also China) and ...
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Are there any records of the history for the development of speculum alloy?
I am curious if anyone has seen any records on how this alloy was first developed or perhaps accidentally discovered?
One could ask a similar question for any alloy but since this is peculiar in ...
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Who did create the notions of acid, base, and salt first?
Who did create the notions of acid, base, and salt first?
Many chemists had mentioned these 3 terms before Svante Arrhenius defined them in 1884. For example, Antoine Lavoisier mentioned the notions ...
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Modern usage of alchemical symbols
As far as I know, not many (if any) alchemical symbols have survived in modern nomenclature of science, either in chemistry or any other. I think $\LaTeX$ doesn't even support most of them! I know ...
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