Chapter 126 - 126 Thermometer and Mercury
Cyril came to Steve's location. He had a somewhat difficult expression on his face, so Steve became curious.
"What is the matter?"
Asked by Steve, Cyril got straight to the point.
"Actually, the Glass Industry Guild in the Royal Capital says they want more work."
"Oh, so it is because of the apprenticeship matter that they feel inferior."
Several young people from the Archibalt Territory had been sent to the glass workshops in the Royal Capital for training. At that time, I had asked Cyril to act as an intermediary with the Royal Research Institute, but it seemed that some flexibility was required regarding that matter.
With the emergence of new products like glass cups in the Edo Kiriko style and glass magic bottles, the work for glass craftsmen should have been busy, yet they were now being asked for even more work.
"It would be difficult to ask you to decide immediately, so whenever you have an idea is fine."
Cyril bowed his head with an apologetic look.
Since Steve was the cause of Cyril being in this situation, he felt he had to do something about it.
Then, one idea came to him.
"Let's make a thermometer."
"A thermometer?"
What Steve came up with was a thermometer made of glass. Mercury thermometers and alcohol thermometers both use glass.
"Let's set the freezing point of water as 0°C and the boiling point as 100°C, and then add the markings."
Since Steve was originally Japanese, he wanted to make a thermometer to measure the Celsius temperature scale, which was familiar to him.
Mercury cannot be prepared immediately, but white kerosene used for alcohol thermometers can be created by Steve's magic.
He immediately prepared ice water with magic and created a 0°C state first. The height of the alcohol at that time was set to 0°C. The water temperature was measured by magic, so there was no error at 0°C.
Next, he heated that water with fire until it boiled. The temperature at which it boils under general atmospheric pressure on the ground is 100°C, and he confirmed that with magic as well.
Once 0°C and 100°C were decided, the spacing for the markings was determined. In the blink of an eye, the alcohol thermometer was complete.
"You are using a liquid called white kerosene, but I think alcohol or mercury would be fine considering availability. However, since mercury is harmful to the body, care will be needed in handling it."
Steve could not create mercury with magic, so he could not make a mercury thermometer. Thus, he was left with only explaining it verbally. The history of the thermometer can be traced back to the 17th century. In other words, it is a level of civilization that can produce such things. There are issues with accuracy, though.
"Well, if you use the thermometer I made as a standard and make it output similar values, that should be fine, right? It will also create demand for glass tubes."
The standards for glass thermometers are also decided by JIS. Furthermore, there are standards for measurement methods of temperature. There is a limit to what can be done with current technology, but I thought it might be good to decide on new standards while creating work for glass craftsmen.
When Cyril received the completed thermometer, he immediately began writing down its mechanism. Due to the request from the Glass Industry Guild, the topic suddenly shifted to his own specialized work.
"I wish I had known about this sooner."
"In my case, I can measure with magic, so I don't feel the need for measuring instruments. That is why I forgot about it."
Against Cyril's excited tone, Steve bowed his head apologetically. As he just said, since Steve can measure with magic, he does not feel the necessity of measuring instruments very much. Temperature, humidity, angle, illuminance, etc., can be measured accurately without error if magic is used for measurement. Therefore, he had forgotten to display his modern knowledge.
"I wish mercury could also be made with magic. Do you know any mages who can create mercury?"
Steve asked Cyril.
"I only know of you, Lord Steve, as a mage who can create metals. You can create steel, copper, gold, and silver, but you cannot create mercury?"
"Gold and silver are plating solutions, you see."
Just as he said that, Steve remembered amalgam plating. Amalgam plating involves dissolving gold in mercury and applying it to the object to be plated. Then, when the mercury evaporates, the gold remains. This is a plating method. I thought that if gold dissolved in a plating solution could be made, it might work, so I tried it, and mercury containing gold was created as a plating solution.
Furthermore, by separating this with Separation Magic into gold and mercury, pure mercury could be extracted. Gold was also produced along with it.
"This means we can create gold endlessly, right?"
"Ah, that is correct. However, if we create gold and use it, the circulation of gold will increase and the price will drop. The rarity value will disappear. A great inflation might occur."
"That would be troublesome."
"It would solve the territory's funding problems, though."
Steve laughed, but it was clear that if Steve actually used his vast mana to create mercury and gold, their value would drop significantly and the economy would be thrown into chaos.
"Well, let's leave the gold aside for now, but we can make the mercury thermometer, which was the original purpose, with this."
Saying that, Steve made a thermometer filled with mercury inside glass. He handed that to Cyril as well.
"Please be careful not to break it."
"Yes."
The toxicity of mercury was known, and Cyril intended to pack it so the glass would not break and send it to the Royal Capital.
While looking at the thermometer he had received, Cyril said,
"However, if the mercury for amalgam plating can be turned into gold, then alchemy, the dream of humanity, will be complete."
He spoke the word alchemy.
Cyril said it normally, but Steve latched onto it.
"By the way, I don't know much about alchemy, but is alchemy also being researched in the Kingdom of Cascade?"
"Yes. It is common enough that it is even researched at the Royal Research Institute. Since they are accustomed to scientific verification, they immediately accepted my report and considered its verification methods and applications. The weak influence of religious ideology is likely the driving force behind current development."
Just as the development of science on Earth was an extension of alchemy, the research of alchemy in the Kingdom of Cascade served as the foundation of science. And the ultimate goal was to create gold from other substances.
This involved research such as trying to make gold by kneading earth, or creating alloys of metals like mercury, brass, and tin, and these were compiled as research reports as a result of accumulation over history.
And none of them succeeded. Throughout the long history, there were those who claimed to have discovered a method to create gold, but those were never reproducible and were seen through as fraud.
"If you are interested, I can show you the report. Well, it is a history of failures, and there are no success cases."
Cyril said that and returned his gaze from the thermometer to Steve, but at that moment, Steve's expression was distracted, not looking somewhere far away, but simply out of focus.
And suddenly,
"We might be able to make gold from mercury."
he said.
"Really?"
Cyril was surprised. Steve had realized things that could be called miracles before, but making gold from mercury would be a divine miracle comparable to resurrecting the dead. It would fulfill the dream of humanity that could not be realized for thousands of years.
"It might be a bit dangerous, so I will go conduct an experiment where no one is around."
Steve said that and vanished via Teleportation.
And when he returned, there was a small grain of gold in his hand.
"It is a success."
"It really is gold."
Steve, excited, handed the gold to Cyril. Cyril observed the gold carefully. While observing, he asked Steve.
"How did you make this from mercury?"
"The fact that gold and mercury are what they are is determined by the number of protons."
"Protons?"
It was something taught in schools for Japanese people, but protons had not yet been discovered in the Kingdom of Cascade. So, Cyril did not understand that word.
"Protons carry a positive charge, but that might be difficult to explain immediately. Elements have an atomic nucleus, which is made of protons and neutrons. The type of element is determined by the number of protons. And gold has 79 protons, while mercury has 80 protons. They differ by only one."
"So, if the number of protons changes, the element also changes, is that right?"
"Yes. When I tried separating protons with Separation Magic, mercury turned into gold."
This is scientifically proven. Mercury has seven isotopes, and among them, by adding one neutron to Hg-196, which has 116 neutrons, Hg-197 is created. This Hg-197 quickly decays into Au-197.
Au-197 is stable gold with 79 protons and 118 neutrons. It is possible to create this in a nuclear reactor.
Of course, Steve does not have a nuclear reactor. Furthermore, Hg-196 only exists at 0.15%, so even if made in a reactor, the cost would not match.
So how did Steve make it? First, he separated the mercury by isotope using Separation Magic. Then, since each isotope has a different number of neutrons, he separated the neutrons along with the proton separation so that the number of neutrons became 117. Naturally, there was a possibility of radiation exposure, so he conducted the experiment in a remote mountain where no one was present.
Steve can measure radiation levels with Measurement. As a result of checking, he found that he was not exposed when he changed mercury to gold with magic.
He first confirmed it with a small amount and gradually increased the quantity. As a result, there were no problems at all. It was just that a huge gold ingot was born. Steve hid that as his usual hidden treasure and brought back only a small amount.
"That is a very interesting story, but is there a way to observe that?"
"It is impossible for now. It is not large enough to be seen with existing microscopes."
Steve answered that, but in reality, protons were discovered in 1918 when hydrogen was found in sealed nitrogen gas. Still, reproducing that in the Kingdom of Cascade is impossible.
"You will be busy for a while, won't you?"
"Since I have to manage the factory, I don't want to be tied down to the Royal Capital too much."
Despite that, in the end, Steve and Cyril were detained in the Royal Capital for a long time due to the report of the great discovery of the century.
Steve's experiment was first shown to the members of the Royal Research Institute, but the King requested to see the experiment, so it was shown the next day. The King was satisfied with the results and announced them.
Then, the nobles, hearing that gold could be made from mercury, flocked to the Royal Research Institute to confirm the method. All those nobles offered large donations, so the Royal Research Institute could not refuse, and they decided to have Steve repeat the experiments.
And the reason this experiment was made public was that even if Separation Magic could not be used, without the concept of protons and neutrons, reproduction would be impossible, so other countries could not reproduce it.
Thus, it was made known to the world that only the Kingdom of Cascade could create gold from mercury.
As a result of this, the price of gold temporarily plummeted. At that time, Aurora, who was watching the situation calmly, bought up gold at the bottom price. Those who learned that gold would not be endlessly made from mercury in the future showed movement to buy gold, and she sold off her holdings then.
Incidentally, the report on the thermometer was submitted at the same time, but it was overshadowed. The researchers assigned to the thermometer research were full of dissatisfaction, but he worked hard to show those who forced such research on him, and later he would leave his name in history, but that is another story.
Thank you always for your typo reports.