Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Pb -> Au

arsphenamine - 1-4-2012 at 08:52

As I was digging through Paracelsus' writing , I noted his tantalizing discussion of Alkahest.

It occurred to me that Alkahest, if slightly deactivated by perfusion of Phlogiston,
might effect transmutation on the surface of lead foil.

Semi-empirical modeling at the PM6 level suggest a mildly endothermic reaction (<10 kcal/mol) but the ab initio kinetics simulations on Pb clusters predict a very slow reaction rate.

This means that the lead should be finely divided, perhaps
by generating elemental Pb <i>in situ</i>, or using a suspension of precipitated Pb, at the very least.

Reaction rates in heterogeneous media can sometimes be improved using Type-1 or Type-2 sonochemical conditions.

In implementation, this means dropwise addition of a Pb suspension into a hazmat vessel agitated by a 40kHz ultrasound bath.

Suggestions?

[Edited on 1-4-2012 by arsphenamine]

Endimion17 - 1-4-2012 at 09:18

My suggestion is to come up with a better April Fools' joke. :P

arsphenamine - 1-4-2012 at 09:36

(looks around cautiously)

Ssssh.

Yer suspozedta go along with it, maybe suggest that it's in the wrong section.

BromicAcid - 1-4-2012 at 09:56

So this is what happens when centuries of knowlege become interweved together in the mind of an immortal. I'm on to you arsphenamine.

arsphenamine - 1-4-2012 at 10:17

Quote: Originally posted by BromicAcid  
I'm on to you arsphenamine.
Oh.

{heaves a big sigh)

I guess this is the part where
I should list a steaming mound of purely anecdotal support for the idea,
claim that my brilliance is completely misunderstood by feckless peers,
assert that Unamed Large Vested Interests(TM) actively work to suppress my brainchild
because it is such disruptive technology, Yadda Yadda ...

elementcollector1 - 1-4-2012 at 11:08

That arsphenamine's a spy! He's come here to give us false information on how to transmute gold! (Hint: the Alkafest should be finely powdered).

AndersHoveland - 1-4-2012 at 13:53

It is possible to transmute lead into gold, but it takes more energy than it is economically worth.
One other potential option is a type of thermonuclear bomb that would also contain a segment of normal hydrogen, and would utilize the wakefield effect to accelerate the resulting positrons to high energies. These high energy positrons could transmute a portion of a lead shell into gold. But I am not exactly sure how the gold would be recovered, as it would be widely dispersed, and mixed with a fair ammount of radioactive byproducts from the fission initiator.

watson.fawkes - 1-4-2012 at 18:16

Quote: Originally posted by arsphenamine  
I guess this is the part where
I should [...] Yadda Yadda ...
You forgot the part where you
N.B. Amazingly, these two are both mirror images of each other and not mutually incompatible. Sort of like spin-up and spin-down. Or, more apropos, like Thing 1 and Thing 2.

Gearhead_Shem_Tov - 1-4-2012 at 19:48

Quote: Originally posted by arsphenamine  
As I was digging through Paracelsus' writing , I noted his tantalizing discussion of Alkahest.
...
ab initio kinetics simulations on Pb clusters predict a very slow reaction rate.

This means that the lead should be finely divided, perhaps
by generating elemental Pb <i>in situ</i>, or using a suspension of precipitated Pb, at the very least.
...
In implementation, this means dropwise addition of a Pb suspension into a hazmat vessel agitated by a 40kHz ultrasound bath.

Suggestions?

[Edited on 1-4-2012 by arsphenamine]


Close, but no cigar. Precipitates aren't going to cut it. You'll want Pb nanoclusters -- 7-atom clusters, to be precise -- and they'll need to be carefully distributed in vacuum.

I'm not going to to spoon-feed you; you'll have to figure out the correct distribution on your own. You wouldn't be too far astray were you to consider the family of icosohedral stellations and their duals. You'd also do well to teach your self some physics (specifically metaphysical chemical kinetics), learn to do the basic lab procedures of creating and maintaining Bose-Einstein condensates (your Pb nanoclusters), and that in turn means mastering laser tweezer techniques. Given all that, you'll still face the problem of selecting your laser tweezer frequencies given the five distinctive emission lines of ordinary Pb atoms at 357.2, 364.0, 368.3, 373.9 and 405.8 nm. The 405.8 nm peak, the emission line most used for Pb analysis owing to its strength, involves -e transitions from 7s1 3P to 6p2 3P, and for that reason clearly can't be used. Further, as the Pb clusters are Bose-Einstein condensates, QM consideration must be given to spectral line broadening and displacement.

Oh, and two more hints:
1) the pentagons/pentagrams in the distribution shells are critical;
2) Unless you have an astonishing fume hood, autoclave, and vacuum set up, I would strongly advise not experimenting in this area unless you have a LOT of open space. In fact, I'd feel much better, all things considered, if you would promise not to try this inside the orbit of Neptune.

And next time, UTFSE! And cite book and verse, the next time you mention Paracelsus; you'll get treated much more kindly by the geezers (and you know who you are!).

-Bobby

bfesser - 1-4-2012 at 20:45

<strong>gutter_ca</strong> should have saved the <a href="http://heterodoxy.cc/meowdocs/pseudo/pseudosynth.pdf" target="_blank">Pseudoephedrine</a> <img src="../scipics/_ext.png" /> paper for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools'_Day" target="_blank">April Fools' Day</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png" />.

[Edited on 7/9/13 by bfesser]

arsphenamine - 1-4-2012 at 21:15

Quote: Originally posted by Gearhead_Shem_Tov  


Close, but no cigar. Precipitates aren't going to cut it. You'll want Pb nanoclusters -- 7-atom clusters, to be precise -- and they'll need to be carefully distributed in vacuum.
Oh piss off. The 7 atom clusters collapse to a very stable D5h point group with a &Delta;H<sub>f</sub> around -700 kJ. No way will that react with anything.

A 'dirty' (viz, weakly self-orienting) precipitation produces a great variety of cluster sizes. Surely one of them may transmute in a prototypic effort.

This is *research*, man!
Quote:
Further, as the Pb clusters are Bose-Einstein condensates, QM consideration must be given to spectral line broadening and displacement.
Don't care. This is to be run between 273 and 373K as a LENR.

The conjecture is that a phlogistickated Alkahest may engender an intense <b>bogon</b> flux within the reaction vessel. Bogons, the supersymmetric pair particle of cluons, are an intuitively obvious choice...particularly today.
uh, rather, yesterday.
Quote:
Oh, and two more hints:

You are too generous. There were three.
Quote:

In fact, I'd feel much better, all things considered, if you would promise not to try this inside the orbit of Neptune.

Hmmn. Until I'd encountered bogon-initiated LENR's, I'd thought the reaction was best performed inside the orbit of Mercury. ...*well* inside its orbit, in fact.


arsphenamine - 1-4-2012 at 21:28

Quote: Originally posted by bfesser  
<strong>gutter_ca</strong> should have saved the <a href="http://heterodoxy.cc/meowdocs/pseudo/pseudosynth.pdf" target="_blank">Pseudoephedrine</a> <img src="../scipics/_ext.png" /> paper for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools'_Day" target="_blank">April Fools' Day</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png" />.
zOMG! I love that paper.

Completely ignoring the jargon-laden tongue-in-cheek premise in service of scathing sociopolitical commentary, the chemistry just rocks.

Using Cr and Mo organometallics makes for a fascinating bit of preparative chem. Intellectually very savory.

<!-- bfesser_edit_tag -->[<a href="u2u.php?action=send&username=bfesser">bfesser</a>: fixed broken image(s)]

[Edited on 7/9/13 by bfesser]

Ephoton - 2-4-2012 at 07:06

hmmmm
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apocryphal

Journal of Apocryphal Chemistry

anyway transmuting gold is way cooler XD

I do wonder if there will be a time when our red planet may not
become a wonder of wealth for those who make there own
smashers.

it may not be as far as we think.


[Edited on 2-4-2012 by Ephoton]