What Is Alchemy...

really like? I'm asking this question because I'm a Full Metal fan and I know real life alchemy isn't like clapping your hands together and turn a car into a monster truck (lol) but I'm interested what alchemy really is. Is alchemy the mixture of science and magic? What is the history of it?

Login or Signup to reply to this post.

The short and sweet, is the alchemy is what chemistry evolved from. There is a bit more to it, but thats the quick explanation. To learn the long, use google and just do some reasearch.

Glim

What Glim said. There are some great REAL Alchemy sites out there. Let's see:

http://www.levity.com/alchemy/
http://www.alchemylab.com/

ENJOY! :)

Thanks guys, but before I start studying this I need to learn chemistry, so thanks again!

Quicky definition of the original forms of alchemy...
Changing one substance into another substance of equal value using chemistry.

:D Just a quicky definition.

alchemy is in the roots of almost everything you see and use today. medicines, metal production, paper and dye making.
Its true that the main goal of alchemy was lead into gold but there were many more. they used pretty much any inexpensive metal as well as lead. many of the famous scientists you know were actuly alchemists not scientists (even Isaac Newton was supposedly 1, he realised gravity was a force)
i too started because of full metal alchemist but knew about it before then. sence you read it you know about equivelent exchange, you cant get back more than you put in.

you should also know that matter can not be created nor destroyed but it can be altered here is were alchemy comes in you can use magical energy to help this or you can use chemistry to do this.

ps they did lead to gold by disolving gold in "aqua regia" otherwise known as nitro-hydrocloric acid then putting the lead into it and delivering electricity into the mix thus electroplating it lead to appear as though it were gold they didnt dip it in molten gold because this was very sloppy and easily noticible by even a blind person.

if you want to know more message me

i know that there were real was to do it but this was the eaasiest and most common way

Not real, pure gold though UnluckyRaven.

Gold is an element; I'm not referring to wind, water, fire, earth- I mean the periodic elements.

These elements are called elements because they are substances that can not be broken down any further.
Being this, even the combination of the most basic (as broken down as possible) substances can not create because gold is not a compound, it's an element.

It's like saying 1 + 1 = 1...
It just doesn't work that way.
So typically speaking, it's scientifically, virtually impossible.
While as the basics of alchemy are your basic chemistry laws and theories even applying something like nuclear fission (even with the basic alchemic laws not dealing with chemistry) won't create gold out of other substances. Only stars with their massive size and unfathomable amount of pressure causing immense fusion every second of their "life" can do something like that.