The History of ChemistryAlchemy to Chemistry

The Beginnings

• Weapons

• Medicine

• Soap making

Ancient Greeks

4 elements: earth, air, fire, water

Paracelsus (born 1493)

Man consisted of three elementsSALT (the body)SULFUR (the soul)MERCURY (the spirit)

He thought he could rearrange the amounts of the elements to change man.

He desired immortality and searched for a mystical elixir of life.

Alchemy

Allegedly, this substance would turn cheap metals into gold.

In Europe, alchemy was the quest for the Philosopher’s Stone (the elixir, the Sorcerer’s Stone).

transmutation

In ordinary chemical reactions, we cannot

transmute elements into different elements.

changing one substance into another

Philosopher’s Stone

Alchemy

• Alchemy and Chemistry were initially synonymous

• Alchemists were somewhat like magicians.– Purported elixirs, physical

immortality

Alchemy Symbols

Alchemy symbols forsubstances

. . . . . . . . . . . .. . .

GOLD SILVER COPPER IRON SAND

transmutation: changing one substance into another

.

Contributions of alchemists: •lab apparatus / procedures•alloys

The Alchemist, by David Teniers

Contributions(continued)

• The elements mercury, sulfur, and antimony were discovered by alchemists

• Element properties

• Preparation of acids

Alchemy was practiced in many regions of the

world, including China and the Middle East.

Arrived in western Europe

around 500 C.E.

Modern chemistry evolved from alchemy.

• By 1943, the supply of copper metal was in short supply

• Pennies were made with steel during WWII

Pennies

• Before 1982, all pennies were copper (except 1943).

• After 1982, pennies were made from copper plated zinc.

• A shortage of copper drove the price of copper up in the early 1980s.

COPPER “SILVER” “GOLD”

Penny into Gold - Alchemist Dream