Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Preliminary Note on the Transmutation of Mercury into Gold

Abstract

THE experiment on the transmutation of mercury was begun in September 1924, with the assistance of Messrs. Y. Sugiura, T. Asada and T. Machida. The main object was to ascertain if the view which we expressed in NATURE of March 29, 1924, can be realised by applying an intense electric field to mercury atoms. Another object was to find if the radio-active changes can be accelerated by artificial means. From the outset it was clear that a field of many million volts/cm. is necessary for the purpose. From our observation on the Stark effect in arcs of different metals (Jap. Journ. Phys., vol. 3, pp. 45–73) we found that with silver globules the field in a narrow space very near the metal was nearly 2 × 105 volts/cm. with terminal voltage of about 140. The presence of such an intense field indicated the possibility of obtaining the desired strength of the field for transmutation, if sufficient terminal voltage be applied. Though the above ratio of magnification would be diminished with high voltage, the experiment was thought worth trying, even if we could not effect the transmutation with the apparatus at hand.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

NAGAOKA, H. Preliminary Note on the Transmutation of Mercury into Gold. Nature 116, 95–96 (1925). https://doi.org/10.1038/116095a0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/116095a0

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing