Chapter 488: Fire Air
While the majority were addicted to the Competition and a tiny minority headed out to pioneer Syracur, in a beautiful manor on the outskirts of the City of True Knowledge.
Olli, dressed in a moon-white robe, leaned against Arno and seriously unrolled a piece of parchment.
Arno looked at her lovingly, then closed his eyes, quietly serving as a cushion.
“Weighing gas? An interesting experiment report.”
Olli flipped through the latest Elements journal with interest. The author of this report was named Laval. He heated objects like coal, minium (red lead) and saltpeter, iron filings and dilute sulfuric acid, and iron filings and dilute nitric acid in a gun barrel, then collected the resulting gases over water to measure the total volume of “gas” extracted from the various substances.
“This device for measuring the weight of gas is interesting, but isn’t relying solely on weighing too limited in scope? ‘Animals, plants, and mineral substances are all rich in air’—this conclusion is certainly correct, but it is too simple and too vague.”
Arno opened his eyes, looked at Olli in confusion, and closed them again.
Olli took the opportunity to lie back in Arno’s arms, holding the scroll above her head and reading softly: “Elasticity is not an immutable essential property of air particles. As we know, air particles are strongly attracted by the large number of acidic particles, sulfur particles, and saline particles in the air, easily changing from an elastic state to a fixed state.”
Leaning against Arno, she frowned: “Is this an endorsement of the Atomic Theory? I actually agree with the Atomic Theory; the microscopic world likely contains indivisible particles. However, air doesn’t seem to be just one type of particle. Human respiration consumes a certain component in the air. If that component is consumed, a flame cannot burn in the remaining air either.
“Don’t you agree, Brother Arno?”
Arno nodded with a face full of confusion and hugged Olli tightly, as if afraid she would disappear.
Since her revival, Olli’s strength had remained at Level 1. She had never constructed her foundation spell model. Aside from constructing the Life Star Meditation Spell Model based on Magical Mechanics, her Soul Sanctuary had always been empty.
“Brother Arno, I don’t really want to rely on Lord Ace’s Magical Mechanics to construct my foundation. Although Magical Mechanics is perfect, I yearn more for the wind.”
Hearing Olli’s murmur, Arno said gently: “I know a little about the latest theories. It seems to be the Phlogiston Theory. Gas is what the Four Elements Theory of the past called the Wind Element. Why don’t you construct your foundation based on that?”
Olli adjusted her posture in Arno’s arms and said softly: “I believe gas must be complex. Before determining the basic composition of gas, I do not intend to construct a foundation spell model. And although the Phlogiston Theory looks reasonable and the experiments make sense, it hasn’t been truly proven!
“I have always been skeptical of the Phlogiston Theory.”
Arno hugged Olli gently and said in a deep voice: “I don’t understand magic research very well, but I know that if you doubt it, you cannot practice it. Since you remain skeptical of the Phlogiston Theory, why not conduct experiments to see if you can overturn it!”
Olli’s eyes lit up. She kissed Arno happily: “That makes sense. But I don’t necessarily have to overturn it. Either prove there is Phlogiston, or prove there isn’t. In short, experiments are needed to verify it.”
To conduct experiments, one needed to first collect the most cutting-edge research in this field.
Olli had been reading and thinking about relevant papers in the dream world for the past few years, and she had accumulated enough theoretical knowledge.
A few days later, the latest issue of Magic journal was released. Olli opened it immediately and happened to see an article published by Betty: “On Air and Fire.”
“I believe the vast majority of Element School wizards have discovered that when a defined volume of air is in contact with certain substances for a long time, the volume shrinks.
“We placed sulfur-lime water solution, linseed oil, and iron filings moistened with water in the air. After a few days, about one-quarter of the air was absorbed. The remaining air extinguishes small candles.
“We can assume that these substances are all rich in Phlogiston, or rich in combustible matter. The remaining gas is different from ordinary air; it contains no combustible matter.
“Because, if this gas were a combination of air and Phlogiston, and the volume was reduced, then it must be denser than ordinary air.
“But when filling a very thin flask with this gas and weighing it precisely, it was found that not only could it not balance with the same volume of air, but it was even lighter.
“……
“Therefore, air is composed of two fluids with different properties. One of them shows no attraction to Phlogiston at all, while the other fluid accounts for one-third or one-quarter of the total mass of the air.
“The former I call Foul Air (Turbid Air), and the latter Fire Air.”
Olli pondered as she read. Fire Air and Foul Air—this classification fit Betty’s Phlogiston Theory, and it also proved that gas was composed of at least two airs with different properties.
“But, gas isn’t necessarily just two elements. It could be more,” Olli whispered while continuing to read Betty’s paper. Betty’s greatest contribution in this research was the purification of “Fire Air.”
“Using phosphorus combustion tests, it can be determined that combustible matter combines with Fire Air. Therefore, I believe that Heat = Fire Air + Phlogiston. Since Heat = Fire Air + Phlogiston, one only needs to find a substance that has a greater attraction to Phlogiston than Fire Air does.”
Olli continued to think about what exactly could purify “Fire Air.” Betty gave the answer.
In Betty’s previous experiments, it was found that nitric acid acts immediately on metals, taking away the Phlogiston from the metal and producing red smoke (Nitric Acid + Phlogiston). To make nitric acid subject to heat, it is first combined with potash to fix it. The resulting saltpeter (nitre) is placed in a retort and distilled at high temperature with alum oil (sulfuric acid) to release nitric acid again.
A magic creature’s bladder containing milk of lime is tied to the mouth of the retort to absorb the released red smoke. The bladder eventually fills with a colorless gas. If a small candle inside the bladder is lit, it will emit a dazzling light.
Olli immediately left “Fantasia” and went to reality to repeat the experiment. Sure enough, she successfully produced a unique gas. This gas not only made flames burn more violently and for a longer time, but if inhaled into the lungs, it also produced a rare sense of relaxation.
“This gas not only allows flames to burn, but if extracted, the remaining air will suffocate humans or animals! It has tremendous practical combat value and medical value.”
Olli continued to flip through the Magic journal and found that this issue was full of experiments related to Fire Air.
In fact, the three founders of the Phlogiston Theory—Betty, Bayen, and Logan—had discussed and exchanged ideas multiple times. Based on Betty’s experiments, Bayen and Logan obtained pure Fire Air using the heating of mercury calx (mercuric oxide) and the heating of black manganese (manganese dioxide), respectively.
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