episode_0104

Episode 104. Goldfish Returns

****

The workshop was a total mess. I didn’t want to go into the alchemy lab every time, so I just brought everything I needed to my workshop.

I put on my plague doctor mask for the first time in a while and checked the chemicals. Amy also tied her mask and fixed it on her head.

There are a lot of things I’ve learned over the past few days, but one of them is this: Sometimes it’s better to do it yourself than ask for help.

“Okay. Do you know what we’re doing today?”

“Oh, it’s a chemistry experiment.”

That was true.

I nodded.

“Amy. Were you there when you were experimenting with goldfish?”

“No.”

“Let me explain it like this. Look. Do you know that hydroxide ions meet hydrogen ions to make water? When you add an acidic substance to a basic solution, water is produced and the number of hydroxide ions approaches 0.”

“Did I hear that wrong?”

“Then, when the number of hydroxide ions converges to 0 and then becomes more oxide ions than hydroxide ions again. pH is expressed as the log of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion concentration, but since the amount of hydrogen ions that changes during titration changes arithmetically, the pH concentration of the solution changes rapidly before and after the equilibrium point during titration.”

“Professor, I don’t know what that is.”

Amy looked like she didn’t understand at all. How else could I explain it?

“Do you know what titration is? It’s adding a specific substance to a solution one drop at a time. Until the properties of the solution we’re trying to make change.”

“Yes, I understand that much.”

“The amount of hydrogen ions present in neutral water with a pH of 7 is a very small amount that approaches 0. This means that even if you add a small amount of acidic substance, the hydrogen ion concentration can increase by several dozen times.”

“Yes… … .”

“That’s why we needed goldfish in the experiment we did last time. Goldfish can’t withstand the rapid pH change when the equilibrium point is crossed, and they die right near the equilibrium point.”

So, this is something that is difficult to find out with a crude acid-base indicator other than a goldfish.

Especially in situations like today where chemicals contain many impurities and purity cannot be guaranteed.

That’s why I put the goldfish in without making an indicator. It was to find the point where the buffer solution’s equilibrium point was exceeded relatively easily.

“What else is a goldfish?”

I sighed.

If it were Istina, she would have understood what I meant. Even when I first experimented with goldfish, Istina understood it somehow, right?

“To put it simply, we’re going to make an indicator that can evaluate the acidity of a substance. We’re going to have to mix various substances with the indicator and go through a lot of trial and error to make it.”

“Ah. I think I understand that.”

Amy finally seemed to understand something. I nodded.

“Istina will explain later, but for now, this is the plan. We will mix the substance extracted from the gray lichen with red cabbage water to create an indicator that can change into rainbow colors. We will harden it into a paper form.”

“Ah. I understand. You want to make an indicator that can show the properties of the solution?”

I think I can finally speak to Amy on her level. I nodded.

Some of you may be wondering why I keep talking about things that graduate students won’t understand. The simple answer is this.

I’ve seen studies that show that speaking to babies in a baby-like manner, at their level, helps babies develop more when you just use complete sentences. Graduate students are no exception.

To sum it up:

It’s not a good idea to explain things to Amy at her level because she doesn’t know much. Even if she doesn’t understand everything, it would be better for her to tell her what’s going on.

“Then let’s begin.”

Red cabbage, blue lichen, and white hydrangeas. These were the materials I had prepared for today’s experiment. I had a hard time finding the blue lichen. It was deep in the alchemy department’s storage room.

The rest was obtained without difficulty.

“But what are you doing with this?”

“Hmm. Each indicator has a different color, right? So, by mixing several indicators, you can create an indicator that changes color continuously depending on the hydrogen ion concentration of the solution.”

“I see.”

“Yeah. There’s not much I can get right now. I’ll boil the purple cabbage and press it. I’ll grind the lichen and use it, and I’ll grind the hydrangeas and use them too.”

The universal indicator used in my previous life was made by mixing four or five chemicals. It wasn’t something that could be copied with just cabbage. Even that had long since been replaced by electronic equipment.

Right now, I have to do what I can.

“But, in what ratio do you mix them?”

“I don’t know either. Since the cabbage juice is thick, shouldn’t I put in a very small amount of that?”

“Oh, I guess so.”

It wasn’t something that would take a long time.

Except for the paper drying. Amy was next to her, slicing, grating, and straining the boiled cabbage water to remove the red liquid.

It took about ten minutes. We mixed the three solutions, then soaked the paper in the resulting gray liquid. After a few hours, the results came out.

“It’s over, right?”

Now all you have to do is try it out. I just soaked the paper in plain water and there was no significant difference, except that it got a little darker.

Next step. I put a drop of nitric acid on the test paper we made. The test paper quickly turned red.

“Is this a success?”

“I don’t know yet.”

You won’t know until you add alkaline substances.

This time, I dropped a drop of lye on the test paper. The test paper practically turned blue right away. It seemed like the result was similar to my goal… … ?

“ I think it’s done.”

“That’s amazing.”

“The process could be improved a bit, but this is what I was trying to create. A test paper that can be color-coded continuously based on acidity.”

Amy nodded.

“Are you going to write a thesis?”

Well, I don’t know yet.

I didn’t know how far the chemical world had developed, so I didn’t want to publish a paper on chemistry or alchemy.

It didn’t seem like the paper on the indicator itself was going to change the world, and I didn’t want to go back and ask the alchemists to work with me again. We’ll figure that out later, I guess.

“Let’s organize and go. Leave a good record of the experiment.”

“Oh, yes!”

Amy seemed excited to be organizing her lab records.

****

I came back to the lab.

Mint was sitting on the sofa in the lab again today, looking at me. I thought she would become more dependent if she dated the princess, but instead, she whined less.

Was this the best solution from the beginning? It was something I couldn’t help but worry about.

“So. Are you coming?”

“I wasn’t listening. Where are you going?”

“I’m talking about the thanksgiving banquet that will be held at the imperial palace in the fall. I wish you would come with me.”

“Aha. Who are you thanking?”

“I’m not sure about that.”

“Shouldn’t you know something? Something like what kind of event it is?”

Mint scratched her head sheepishly.

“Okay.”

“Anyway, if Miss Mint wants to go, it’s not hard to go. Why am I going to this event? Is there anything I need to prepare?”

“Well, I thought about it a bit.”

“Yes.”

“First, a practical reason that the teacher would like. After all, a banquet is a place where many high-ranking people come, so if you want to gather investors for what you do, there is no better opportunity than this.”

This was also true.

Mint sat with her legs crossed.

“I guess so.”

“So, wouldn’t it be better to prepare something that even non-experts can say briefly, something that would be easy to say at a dinner party? That way, you can make the medicine faster, and help people, etc. ”

“Okay.”

“And. Imperial events and banquets were always boring. I usually ran away early, saying I was sick. But this time, I wasn’t sick at all, and I had someone I could go with… … !”

I nodded.

Mint wants to go with you so badly, so it’s wrong to refuse.

In particular, it seemed a bit sad that I had come up with a practical reason why I had to go.

You didn’t bring it up because you thought I wouldn’t go, you were trying to persuade me. I’m not that weird of a person. If you tell me to go, I’ll go.

“Have you talked to the royal family about this? It’s not a place that just anyone can go.”

“I don’t know. It’s my mind.”

“Yes, that. It would be good to talk to him. It’s not good to surprise him… … .”

“Okay, I will.”

I’m not talking specifically about the banquet. How shocked would the royal family be if I told them I was meeting Mint?

Just thinking about it made my head hurt. After thinking about it again, it didn’t seem like it was something I could solve by talking slowly so as not to surprise anyone.

Okay. I think Mint will be able to convince you.

Even if they are the royal family, they are the Mint family. If Mint can’t convince her own family, I doubt I have anything to say to them.

“I need to choose a suit. What would be good?”

“I don’t know.”

“Ah. I’ll choose… … !”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Mint stretched her legs and yawned.

“Hey. What are you doing?”

“Experiment summary.”

“When will it be over? After that, come hang out with me. Or maybe eat something and come back.”

“Oh, is that so… … .”

It wasn’t something directly related to the patient, and it was something I could just do later. I put down what I was watching and got up from my seat. As soon as I got up, Mint hugged me tightly.

“But. What should I eat for dinner?”