CHAPTER 588: PHLOGISTON

TL: Rui88

Tennyson Fajeyev stared intently at the piece of iron being heated in the fire.

In order to study the properties of steel and iron, Tennyson had built a small furnace with a bellows in his laboratory and had requested several craftsmen from the Administration Council’s ironworks to assist him. For a week, he had been repeating this step here countless times. He hoped to gain some sort of insight by constantly repeating the process of melting metal. Tennyson’s objects of observation included various iron-related metals, including pig iron, wrought iron, and what the lord called steel.

Now, the piece of iron he was focused on gradually turned red and softened under the continuous heating, and then slowly melted into a pool of fiery red liquid that flowed out.

Tennyson had tested it before. If the molten iron was continuously stirred, its weight after re-solidifying would be slightly less than before it was melted. And the re-solidified iron also became what the blacksmiths called wrought iron; it became softer. Tennyson deduced that the reduction in weight indicated that something must have been separated during the stirring process, and it was most likely dissipated into the air. And this substance was very likely the key substance that made iron change from hard to soft.

In fact, Tennyson knew from his conversations with blacksmiths that this method of changing the properties of molten iron by stirring it and letting it re-solidify was called “steel puddling” in their jargon. However, compared to the method of forging steel by stacking pig iron and wrought iron together, “steel puddling” was a very luck-dependent task. In most cases, the molten iron from pig iron would be directly puddled into wrought iron, not the desired steel. Therefore, this method was not commonly used.

The blacksmiths’ words gave Tennyson an inspiration. Was this series of changes caused by the change in the content of that key substance in the iron? Stirring the molten iron, the mass became lighter, and pig iron became wrought iron, which indicated that this substance was more abundant in pig iron and less so in wrought iron. But when pig iron and wrought iron were mixed, it became steel, which meant that this substance was shared equally by the pig iron and wrought iron, so that its content in the new form of iron was lower than that in pig iron, but higher than that in wrought iron.

Of course, it was also possible that it was not just one substance, or rather, not just the effect of one element that caused the change in the properties of iron.

“Thirty-fifth time…” Tennyson let out a long breath, picked up a pen and paper to record the observation process of this time. Although most of it was repetitive records, he still took notes.

After finishing his notes, Tennyson’s stomach rumbled. He walked out of the laboratory, intending to go to the Weiss Academy cafeteria to fill his stomach. The members of various laboratories and disciplines in Weiss Academy had their own customary “territories” in the cafeteria. The territory of the group that researched and studied chemistry was located in the southeast corner of the main hall. Whenever it was mealtime, some of their internal terminology could be constantly heard from here. Tennyson got his food and came to the small circle of teachers and students of the chemistry department in the southeast corner. A large group of people had already gathered here, stuffing things into their mouths while talking animatedly.

“Hey! Tennyson, over here, over here!”

Hoffman, the other person in charge of the chemistry laboratory, waved his hand to greet him. Tennyson came to a table near him and sat down. “What, hasn’t Teacher Wells arrived yet?”

“Oh, you know him. Once he starts an experiment, he forgets to eat and sleep,” Hoffman said with a smile. “I guess he won’t be eating lunch again.”

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

Everyone was trying their best to help him. Thinking of this, a wave of emotion surged in Tennyson’s heart.

“How is your research going?” Hoffman asked with great concern. He knew that Tennyson’s research was related to the fate of the Fajeyev family and was very important.

Hoffman himself was leading a chemistry group on another important task assigned to the laboratory by Count Paul Grayman…research on the production of pesticides from sulfuric acid. He was 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 was forking a piece of tofu into his mouth. It was said that this was a food invented by Lord Grayman. He was truly an inventor with a wide range of interests.

Hearing the teacher’s question, he replied, “Teacher Hoffman, I think that the increase or decrease of a certain substance contained in steel has led to 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 have.” ＲΆ𐌽ỘΒÊŞ

Hoffman nodded. “This is a safe method, but if it is the combined effect of multiple elements, it will still be very difficult to find the final answer.”

“There’s no other way then. We can only arrange and combine the various elements and exhaust all possibilities.”

“Sigh, I wish you success in your experiments.”

A red-haired young man who had been eating with his head down nearby suddenly interjected, “Tennyson, Teacher Hoffman, I have a theory.”

Hoffman looked at him. “Oh, Webster, what are your thoughts?” This Webster was Tennyson’s classmate and was also conducting research on steel with him.

Webster replied, “The thing that Tennyson guessed causes the change in the properties of iron should be phlogiston.”

“Phlogiston?” “Yes, phlogiston.”

Webster spoke eloquently, “Recently, I have been collecting various methods of steel smelting and forging, and I have visited all the large and small blacksmith shops in and around Lakeheart Town.”

“Oh, what have you discovered?”

“Yes, just before I came back for this meal, I really found a clue. Did you know? Some blacksmiths use charcoal powder, soot, and wood ash when making steel from iron. They wrap the iron rod in a mixture of these things and keep the iron rod in a red-hot state, and the iron rod can be converted into steel.”

Tennyson asked in surprise, “Is… is that really the case?”

“Absolutely true. Haha, this is a secret that some blacksmiths don’t pass on. I went to great lengths to find it out.” Webster raised his head proudly. “To continue, as you all know, the charcoal powder and soot in the mixture are composed of phlogiston, which is why I said that phlogiston may be the key factor that causes the change in the properties of iron.”

Tennyson suddenly rushed up and hugged Webster, giving him a hard kiss. “I thank you, my dear Webster.”

“Haha, it’s nothing, it’s what I should do. Uh… can you let me go first?” Webster was taken aback by his enthusiasm and wiped the saliva from his face with a napkin.

Tennyson said eagerly, “After we finish eating, let’s conduct experiments on this new clue together.”

Webster nodded vigorously. “Okay, Tennyson, please let me go first.”