The Eightieth Electron

Mercury, or quicksilver as it is sometimes called in the vulgar tongue, is a heavy metal with an unusually low melting point. On that account, it is in liquid form at ordinary temperatures; and its use is possible in thermometers for measuring most terrestrial temperatures. It is produced in five or six times the quantity of a metal like gold; but, because its uses, though unique, are limited, it usually sells for about $1 a lb., while gold is worth 300 times that amount.

The difference between mercury and gold, automicly speaking, is that an atom of gold consists of a nucleus and 79 electrons grouped around it, whereas an atom of mercury consists of a nucleus surrounded by 80 electrons. Take an atom of mercury; if you could, knock off the 80th electron and you would have an atom of gold.

According to the present chemical conception, all elements are made up in this way—of electrons. On the number of electrons depends the properties of each element. In other words, all the elements are a sort of series, growing more complicated as the number of electrons, and hence the complexity of the atom, increases. Remove one electron at a time—if you could—and you would successively change an elementary substance from one element to another. In the case of the more complex elements—of the radium type, for example—there is a natural tendency to break down into simpler elements, which is accompanied by an efflux of energy and is, in general, accompanied by a decrease in specific gravity. Already some 14 elements have been observed and sometimes aided in decomposing into the simpler elements.

Here is a new temptation to solve the old problem of alchemy—how to make gold. Here is the 80th electron of a mercury atom revolving around its nucleus, much like a planet around the sun, waiting to be knocked off and leave the precious old Midas-metal in the chemist’s palm.

Now they are attempting it. But it is not as easy as it sounds. The 80th electron cannot be displaced with a pair of tweezers or a baseball bat. For this atom, which is too small to be seen, is also too substantial to be easily dissected.

Some months ago, Prof. Adolf Miethe of the Charlottenburg Technical College, Berlin, was experimenting to determine the effect of violet electric rays upon mercury vapor. Using a quartz lamp, a current of about 170 volts and a low amperage and about half an ounce of mercury vapor, he was surprised to find, after about 200 hours of operation, that the mechanism was out of order. He opened the lamp and found that the inside was coated with a thin, black film. Scraping off some of the film, he analysed it and discovered it to be gold. The experiment was repeated several times with identical results— so, at least, Prof. Miethe announced to the world last July. He coupled the announcement with the statement that it would cost about $2,000,000 to manufacture a pound of gold by his method.

Only a short time ago, a Japanese scientist announced that he, too, had produced gold by another process, the details of which have not been made public. Now Prof. Miethe’s experiment is to be repeated in this country. The announcement was made by Dr. E. E. Free, Editor of The Scientific American. It is to be carried out by Prof. H. H. Sheldon of New York University. An exact replica of Prof. Miethe’s apparatus has been brought to this country. The experiment is to be repeated and variations of method tested with a view to bringing down cost so as to make the process commercially practical.

Scientists are highly skeptical of the possibility of producing gold by Prof. Miethe’s method. Metals have been broken down before; but it has always been done by a high concentration of energy. The use of 170 volts and a low amperage is what makes the proposal seem almost fantastic. It is now proposed to give the process a thorough test.

Even if the method were found to work, the possibility of cheap man-made gold is probably remote. But could it be cheaply produced, it would work a revolution. In industry and in the Arts, the gold would be used for many purposes which its cost now prohibits.

In finance, the greatest changes of all would take place. Gold, the valued metal, becoming plentiful, would become cheap. The dollar, whose value lies in the fact that it represents a definite amount of gold, would also depreciate—that is, the dollar and all other currencies would become cheap as compared with everything else. Prices would soar. Much the same thing would happen that has happened in Central Europe—debts payable in gold would be practically wiped out; and there would be no possibility of getting “back to the gold standard.” Eventually, some other standard of money value, silver or platinum perhaps, would have to be developed.