Question

Write some historical facts when alchemists attempted to convert cheap metals to gold.

Answer 1

• Alchemists believed everything in the world was made up of four elements like air, earth, fire, and water.
• Alchemists believed they could refine base metals such as iron into precious metals such as gold if they could just find the mythical substance called philosopher's stone.
• Philosopher's stone was not actually a rock, but it was supposed to be a magical wax, liquid, or powder.
• This stone had prolonged life as well as changed base metals into precious metals.
• The iron pillar near the Qutub Minar in New Delhi was made around 400 BC by the Indian's worker.
• They had developed a process which prevented wrought iron from rusting.
• It is due to the formation of a thin film of magnetic oxide on the surface.
• It results in a finishing treatment given to the pillar, painting it with a mixture of different salts, then heating and quenching.