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can gold be made from lead?
i know it sounds like BS, but i took a blowtorch to a couple of lead pellets, and it turned to something that looks like gold. a couple days later i heard something about it. i just couldnt stop myself from asking this no mattter how stupid this sounds
3 Answers
- Dr WLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
gold cannot be made by chemical reactions involving lead.
look at a periodic table. here's one
every element has a different atomic number. since atomic # = # protons, elements differ from one another by the number of protons in their nucleus. Ordinary chemical reactions, like reacting lead with oxygen to form lead oxide, involve sharing of electrons. not changes in the number of protons within a nucleus. Changes to the nucleus are called "nuclear reactions"
lead has atomic number = 82. ALL lead atoms have 82 protons in their nucleus
gold has atomic number = 79. ALL gold atoms have 79 protons in their nucleus
to convert lead into gold, you must remove 3 protons. That cannot be done by heating lead with a blowtorch
- 1 decade ago
Gold is an element, heating the lead will combine it with the oxygen molecules in the air and therefore is not an element.
- 1 decade ago
Let me consult my tome of alchemical transmutations…
No. Not until you can manipulate the component parts of an atom.