How to Make Gold from Mercury
Gather the equipment., Configure the equipment., Fire up the accelerator., Understand the science!, Wait., Treat the mixture with nitric acid., Filter off the mercury and thallium nitrates.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Gather the equipment.
To turn mercury into gold, you will need the following:
Mercury (duh....).
Get as much as you can, because it's not very efficient.
A neutron source.
Ideally you need a particle accelerator (or a nuclear reactor).
A neutron moderator.
Water (yes, the stuff out of a tap) works pretty well.
Neutron shielding, reflecting and collimating equipment Nitric acid -
Step 2: Configure the equipment.
The neutrons from the source need to pass through the collimator (a thing that makes them go in straight lines) and the moderator (something that slows them down so that they react better) and finally into the mercury.
Set up the neutron reflectors around the mercury (so that any escaping neutrons are reflected back) and then surround the whole thing with shielding., Ideally, you want to hit the mercury with a short, very intense burst of neutron radiation., Here's what's happening:
Ordinary mercury contains seven isotopes:
Hg-196, Hg-198, Hg-199, Hg-200, Hg-201, Hg-202 and Hg-204.
When it absorbs a neutron, Hg-196 becomes Hg-197.
Hg-197 decays into gold.
As a by-product, Hg-202 and Hg-204 become Hg-203 and Hg-205, which decay into thallium.
Other isotopes change into each other and remain mercury. , After the neutron burst, the reaction that produces gold has a half-life of
64.14 hours.
If you wait this long, half of the Hg-197 will have become gold., After the reaction, the mixture should largely contain mercury, with some thallium isotopes, and gold.
Nitric acid will dissolve mercury and thallium, but not gold., You should be left with gold.
And now for the bad news:
Hg-196, the isotope converted to gold, comprises
0.15% of natural mercury.
Assuming perfect conversion to Hg-197, then after one half-life (half of the Hg-197 decays), a kilogram of mercury will give you...
0.73 grams of gold.
That's right, you get less than three-quarters of a gram of gold per kilo of mercury. -
Step 3: Fire up the accelerator.
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Step 4: Understand the science!
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Step 5: Treat the mixture with nitric acid.
-
Step 6: Filter off the mercury and thallium nitrates.
Detailed Guide
To turn mercury into gold, you will need the following:
Mercury (duh....).
Get as much as you can, because it's not very efficient.
A neutron source.
Ideally you need a particle accelerator (or a nuclear reactor).
A neutron moderator.
Water (yes, the stuff out of a tap) works pretty well.
Neutron shielding, reflecting and collimating equipment Nitric acid
The neutrons from the source need to pass through the collimator (a thing that makes them go in straight lines) and the moderator (something that slows them down so that they react better) and finally into the mercury.
Set up the neutron reflectors around the mercury (so that any escaping neutrons are reflected back) and then surround the whole thing with shielding., Ideally, you want to hit the mercury with a short, very intense burst of neutron radiation., Here's what's happening:
Ordinary mercury contains seven isotopes:
Hg-196, Hg-198, Hg-199, Hg-200, Hg-201, Hg-202 and Hg-204.
When it absorbs a neutron, Hg-196 becomes Hg-197.
Hg-197 decays into gold.
As a by-product, Hg-202 and Hg-204 become Hg-203 and Hg-205, which decay into thallium.
Other isotopes change into each other and remain mercury. , After the neutron burst, the reaction that produces gold has a half-life of
64.14 hours.
If you wait this long, half of the Hg-197 will have become gold., After the reaction, the mixture should largely contain mercury, with some thallium isotopes, and gold.
Nitric acid will dissolve mercury and thallium, but not gold., You should be left with gold.
And now for the bad news:
Hg-196, the isotope converted to gold, comprises
0.15% of natural mercury.
Assuming perfect conversion to Hg-197, then after one half-life (half of the Hg-197 decays), a kilogram of mercury will give you...
0.73 grams of gold.
That's right, you get less than three-quarters of a gram of gold per kilo of mercury.
About the Author
Eugene King
Eugene King has dedicated 9 years to mastering education and learning. As a content creator, Eugene focuses on providing actionable tips and step-by-step guides.
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