Chapter 588 Phlogiston

Tennyson Fadeyev stared closely at the burning iron block.

In order to study the properties of steel and iron, Tennyson built a small furnace with a blower in his own experimental site, and applied for several craftsmen from the ironworks of the Administrative Council to assist him. In the past week, he has been here to repeat this step countless times. He hopes to gain some insights by repeating the steps of melting metals. Tennyson observed a variety of metals related to iron, including pig iron, wrought iron, and steel in the mouth of the lord.

Now, the piece of iron he was concerned about gradually turned red and softened under constant burning, and then slowly melted into a pool of fiery red liquid flowing out.

Tennyson once tested that if the molten iron was stirred continuously, its weight would be a little less than before it was melted after it solidified again, and the re-solidified iron also became the wrought iron in the mouth of the blacksmith, and it became softer. Tennyson inferred that the reduction in weight meant that something must have been separated during the stirring process, and most likely escaped into the air, and this thing was most likely the key substance that made the iron change from hard to soft.

In fact, Tennyson knew from his communication with blacksmiths that the method of stirring molten iron to change its properties after it solidified again was called "stirring steel" in their jargon, but compared with the method of stacking pig iron and wrought iron together to forge steel, "stirring steel" was a job that depended on luck. In most cases, the molten iron from pig iron would be directly turned into wrought iron instead of the desired steel. So this method was not commonly used.

The words of the blacksmiths gave Tennyson inspiration. Was this series of changes caused by the change in the content of that key substance in the iron? When the molten iron is stirred, the mass becomes lighter, and the pig iron becomes wrought iron, which means that the content of this substance is higher in pig iron and lower in wrought iron. However, when the pig iron and wrought iron are mixed, it becomes steel again, that is, this substance is evenly distributed between pig iron and wrought iron, so that its content in the new iron form is lower than that in pig iron and higher than that in wrought iron.

Of course, it is also possible that it is not just one substance, or in other words, it is not just one element that causes the properties of iron to change.

"The 35th time..." Tennyson sighed and took a pen and paper to record the process of this observation. Although most of the records were repeated, he still took notes.

After taking notes, Tennyson's stomach growled. He walked out of the experimental site and planned to go to the cafeteria of Weiss College to fill his stomach. Members of various laboratories and disciplines of Weiss College have their own "territory" in the cafeteria. The territory of those who study and learn chemistry is located in the southeast corner of the lobby. Whenever they have a meal, some of their internal terms can be heard from here. After getting his meal, Tennyson came to the small circle of teachers and students of the Department of Chemistry in the southeast corner. A large group of people had gathered here, stuffing food into their mouths while talking loudly.

"Hey! Tennyson, over here!"

Hoffman, another person in charge of the chemistry laboratory, waved his hand to greet him. Tennyson came to a table near him and sat down, "Why, hasn't Teacher Wells come yet?"

"Oh, you know him too. Once he starts doing experiments, he forgets to eat and sleep." Hoffman said with a smile, "I guess he won't eat this lunch again."

Alas, Tennyson shook his head. Teacher Wells and several other students were also conducting experiments on steel. They would meet every day to exchange their experiences, and sometimes they would gather together to repeat some experiments that might have new discoveries.

Everyone was trying hard to help himself. Thinking of this, Tennyson felt touched.

"How is your research going?" Hoffman asked with great concern. He knew that Tennyson's research was related to the value and life of the Fadeev family and was very important.

Hoffman himself is leading a chemical team to carry out another important task assigned to the laboratory by Count Paul Graman - research on the production of pesticides using sulfuric acid. He is also very busy on weekdays, so he did not participate in the research on steel this time, but he would ask about the progress in his spare time.

Tennyson is forking a piece of tofu and stuffing it into his mouth. It is said that this is the food invented by Lord Graman. He is really an inventor with a wide range of interests.

Hearing the teacher's question, he replied: "Teacher Hoffman, I think the increase or decrease of a certain substance contained in steel causes the change in its properties."

"Do you have any ideas?"

"My current idea is to try to separate the various elements in steel, and then increase or decrease them one by one to see what effect each will cause."

Hoffman nodded: "This is a safe method, but if multiple elements work together, it is still very difficult to find the final answer."

"Then there is no way, we can only arrange and combine various elements and exhaust all possibilities."

"Well, I wish you a smooth experiment."

A red-haired young man who was eating just now suddenly interrupted, "Tennyson, Teacher Hoffman, I have a guess."

Hoffman looked at him, "Oh, Webster, what do you think?" This Webster is Tennyson's classmate, and he is conducting research on steel like him.

Webster replied: "The thing that Tennyson guessed caused the change in the properties of iron should be phlogiston."

"Phlogiston?" "Yes, phlogiston."

Webster talked freely: "Recently, I have been collecting various methods of steel smelting and forging, and I have been running around the lake town and surrounding blacksmith shops of all sizes."

"Oh, have you found anything?"

"Yes, just before I came back for dinner, I actually found a clue. Do you know? Some blacksmiths use charcoal powder, soot and wood ash when making steel from iron. Wrap the mixture of these things around the iron rod and keep the iron rod in a red-hot state, and the iron rod can be transformed into steel."

No mistakes in one post, one content, one book, one forum, 6, 9, and one post!

Tennyson asked in surprise: "Is this...really true?"

"Absolutely true, haha, this is a secret that some blacksmiths don't pass on, and I spent a lot of trouble to find out." Webster raised his head proudly, "Go on, you all know that the charcoal powder and soot in the mixture are composed of phlogiston, so I said that phlogiston may be the key factor that causes the properties of iron to change."

Tennyson suddenly rushed up to hug Webster and kissed him hard. "Thank you, dear Webster."

"Haha, okay, okay, this is what I should do, uh... can you let me go first." Webster was frightened by his enthusiasm and wiped the saliva on his face with a napkin.

Tennyson couldn't wait to say: "After dinner, let's experiment on this new clue together."

Webster nodded desperately, "Okay, Tennyson, let me go first."