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Do you turn base metals into gold?


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Old 26-12-2016, 21:25
gateaux
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My friend is an Alchemist but he won't tell me how to do it.
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Old 26-12-2016, 21:30
Maxatoria
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My friend is an Alchemist but he won't tell me how to do it.
You can do it but but it costs more than its worth if you fancy using that atom smashing tech from turning lead to gold.
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Old 26-12-2016, 21:35
JimDee
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Depends on what socks I'm wearing.
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Old 26-12-2016, 21:35
newda898
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My friend is an Alchemist but he won't tell me how to do it.
I've got a cold, can he recommend anything for it?
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Old 26-12-2016, 21:43
WhatJoeThinks
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Nuclear transmutation.

Or you could just sell the base metals and buy some gold with the money.

[Edit] Sorry, I thought you asked, "How do you..." No, I don't.
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Old 26-12-2016, 22:14
ajman
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Take it to a pawnbroker. Use the money to buy some gold.
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Old 26-12-2016, 22:22
Fairyprincess0
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Take it to a pawnbroker. Use the money to buy some gold.
Arent you going to reduce its weight in the trade?

A pound of copper of lead isnt worth as much as a pound of gold. So you can only acquire less gold then the base metal you went in with.....
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Old 26-12-2016, 22:24
phylo_roadking
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Although, to be fair, the price of copper HAS shot through the roof over the last few years.
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Old 26-12-2016, 22:31
ajman
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Arent you going to reduce its weight in the trade?

A pound of copper of lead isnt worth as much as a pound of gold. So you can only acquire less gold then the base metal you went in with.....
Probably. I didn't say that this method gives 100% yield.
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Old 26-12-2016, 23:19
St Dabeoc
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any intelligent person would use a Philosopher's Stone

American would use a Sorcerer's Stone
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Old 26-12-2016, 23:22
blueblade
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My friend is an Alchemist but he won't tell me how to do it.
You'll be telling us next that gold is soluble.
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Old 26-12-2016, 23:32
St Dabeoc
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so I give you an atom of gold for every second of time since the creation of the Universe.........
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Old 26-12-2016, 23:33
Thine Wonk
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You'll be telling us next that gold is soluble.
It is ... (but you know that already).

I love watching Cody's Lab on Youtube where he puts minerals into acids and various chemicals to make the metals soluble and then purifies them and then puts them in the furnace.

The vast majority of the chemistry goes way over my head as my highest level of chemistry education is GCSE B grade, I still find it fascinating though.
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Old 26-12-2016, 23:41
WhatJoeThinks
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so I give you an atom of gold for every second of time since the creation of the Universe.........
You get 140.6µg, or about 0.4p worth.
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Old 27-12-2016, 00:14
St Dabeoc
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You get 140.6µg, or about 0.4p worth.
so I could do it (I have the gold), and i couldn't do it (I don't have the scales)
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Old 27-12-2016, 00:16
Keyser_Soze1
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Nah - but I am a sort of f****d up version of King Midas - everything I touch seems to turn to shit.
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Old 27-12-2016, 00:23
Fairyprincess0
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Nah - but I am a sort of f****d up version of King Midas - everything I touch seems to turn to shit.
How do you wipe your arse?????
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Old 27-12-2016, 00:41
Keyser_Soze1
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How do you wipe your arse?????
Such matters are not really appropriate for a gentle and refined forum such as this one.
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Old 27-12-2016, 01:04
spiney2
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Transforming base metals into gold, only works if there's just 1 or 2 alchemists. For More than 10, macroeconomics kicks in, making the gold worthless
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Old 27-12-2016, 01:19
WhatJoeThinks
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How do you wipe your arse?????
You shouldn't joke, the poor bugger spent the first few years after he gained his superpower either screaming or weeping, surrounded by a giant cess pool made of everyone and everything he ever loved, all turned to sh*t.
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Old 27-12-2016, 03:38
Iqoniq
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There is a kind of way to do it, but it involves a shed load of electronics, a chemical bath and a few other things. And it's definitely not alchemy.

Basically, most decent electronics have circuit boards and components that contain gold, platinum and all manner of precious metals. By subjecting them to high temperatures and/or a chemical bath it's possible to separate the various metals to a greater or lesser degree. The amount you can actually strip out isn't really that much, so it's only really profitable if you have access to a large supply of materials to strip and a process that is relatively automated, because it's not a 5 minute job and pretty dangerous (gases and other nasty shit will build up).

Having said that, there are people that do it as a hobby, but most of them will freely admit that the time, effort and cost will barely be covered. You can't just lob a circuit board in an acid bath and get a gold bar. The most you'll get is about £1 of precious metals from a circuit board, but that's if you can get it to maximum purity.

There's also the fact that it would be highly improbable that a motherboard would sell for would sell for £500, but contain anywhere near that amount in precious metals. If that was the case then places would just be buying the motherboards, recycling them, and profiting instantly. The prices of motherboards would rise due to demand, the prices of the various metals would crash due to the amount flooding onto the market, and before long a loss is made. In the case of gold this would actually be quite catastrophic because most of the currencies are based on gold.

So it can be done with science, but isn't worth it unless you can do it on a huge scale.
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Old 27-12-2016, 03:46
dee123
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any intelligent person would use a Philosopher's Stone

American would use a Sorcerer's Stone
AVADA KEDAVRA!

It's mine now. Thanks. RIP.
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Old 27-12-2016, 06:53
TheEricPollard
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I can turn weasel into tache.
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Old 27-12-2016, 10:55
Smiley433
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I have a nugget of purest Green. Well, it's more of a splat than a nugget.
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Old 27-12-2016, 11:10
RebelScum
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Sure he wasn't confessing to being an alchy whilst sharing a bottle of Bacardi Gold with you?
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