Alkagest ( Alkahest ; in the pre-revolutionary Russian tradition Alkaest ) or Universal solvent ( Latin Menstruum universale ) in alchemy is a liquid substance that has the ability to dissolve all bodies (substances) without exception. Paracelsus , who first used the term alkagest at the beginning of the 16th century , apparently derived it from the Arab. القالي al -kali ( alkali ).
Content
- 1 Alkagest in alchemy
- 2 The impossibility of existence
- 3 Modern use of the term
- 4 See also
- 5 notes
Alkagest in Alchemy
Obtaining a universal solvent along with the search for the philosopher's stone was one of the goals of alchemy; with its help, alchemists hoped to isolate the philosopher's stone from natural and artificially obtained substances.
For some time, the role of a universal solvent in alchemy was claimed by aqua regia , which was obtained in 1270 by dissolving ammonia ( ammonium chloride ) in concentrated nitric acid by the Italian alchemist Bonaventure . Royal vodka owes its name to the ability to dissolve the “king of metals" - gold ; however, it does not act on glass , ceramics , sand and many other substances.
Alcagest was mentioned in the writings of the followers of Paracelsus, the famous alchemists of the 16th – 17th centuries: Van Helmont , Tachen , Glauber and others. Van Helmont claimed that he managed to get an alkagest and dissolves everything he comes into contact with, “like warm water dissolves ice.” Sometimes the term alkagest was used as a synonym for the concepts of a philosopher's stone or an elixir of life .
Impossibility to exist
The impossibility of the existence of a universal solvent was shown at the end of the 17th century by the German alchemist I. Kunkel : “If alkagest dissolves all bodies, then it will dissolve the vessel in which it is contained; if he dissolves the flint, he will turn it into a liquid and a glass retort ... ” After the proof of Kunkel, the alkagest practically ceased to be mentioned in alchemical writings. Although it is possible, for example, to store the solvent in zero gravity or to give it the properties of a magnetic fluid and hang it in a magnetic field [1] . You can also keep the alkagest in a vessel of frozen alkagest, choosing the configuration of the cooling system so as not to completely thaw and not freeze the solvent.
Modern use of the term
Currently, water is often called a universal solvent in school chemistry textbooks in order to emphasize the fact that water is capable of dissolving more substances of a very diverse nature than any other solvent [2] [3] .
In organic chemistry , tetrahydrofuran , which dissolves almost all low molecular weight organic substances and many polymers , including polyvinyl chloride and rubber, is also sometimes called a universal solvent.
See also
- Aqua regia
- Philosopher's Stone
- Water
- Tetrahydrofuran
- Strapelka
Notes
- ↑ Safutdinov A.F. Discover talent in yourself. (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment March 10, 2016. Archived March 10, 2016.
- ↑ I'm going to chemistry class
- ↑ 8.1.1. Inorganic compounds (Inaccessible link) . Date of treatment March 28, 2007. Archived on September 28, 2007.
- Alkagest // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.