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Oh, they probably just noticed one day that the two are almost nothing alike each other, and that you'd have to be an idiot to fail to identify them as separate materials. Ever seen gold leave a big black streak when dragged across a surface?

And the compound you're referring to is called iron pyrite-- "fool's gold," is a nickname. It's called "fool's gold" because you'd have to be a "fool" not to be able to tell it apart from gold. Otherwise they'd probably call it something like "nearly gold, almost anyone could fall for the similarities." But they don't.

The alchemists would not have known streak-plate tests or compounds like iron pyrites as that, but they might have picked up other characteristics, such the ease or otherwise of melting the two materials. Remember that alchemists were not scientists as we would accept, but empiricists who worked on random guess-work in searching for that which cannot exist.

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What was the goal of alchemists in Europe?

The goal of alchemists in Europe was to transform base metals into gold, find a universal cure for diseases (the philosopher's stone), and attain spiritual enlightenment through the transformation of the self. They believed in the idea of transmutation and were also interested in achieving immortality.


What elements did alchemists discover?

Paracelsus introduced the concept of "disease" to medicine, however rejecting the idea that disease is a matter of imbalance and disharmony in the body. He claimed that disease is caused by agents outside the body attacking it. This was long before viruses and bacteria were discovered.Trimble, Russell, "Alchemy," in The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal edited by Gordon Stein (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1996), pp. 1-8.


What are alchemists known for?

An alchemist was someone who looked for the secret of life, in order to try and find a way of living forever. On the way to finding that they looked at whether you could change one thing into another. The most well remembered of these experiments was about whether you could change base metals (like lead) to gold.


Why wont chemists find anything between oxygen and fluorine?

Chemists won't find any stable compounds between oxygen and fluorine because of the large difference in electronegativity between the two elements. Fluorine is the most electronegative element, and oxygen is also highly electronegative, leading to a strong repulsion between them that prevents the formation of stable compounds.


How do you find what type of bond is a compound?

You can determine the type of bond in a compound by analyzing the difference in electronegativity between the atoms involved. If the electronegativity difference is small (less than 1.7), it's a polar covalent bond. If the difference is large (greater than 1.7), it's an ionic bond. If the difference is zero, it's a nonpolar covalent bond.

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