“I will investigate Tone Mag, a familiar and mysterious substance that can be researched in the port city of Telek!”
About a week after arriving in Telek, Asahi declared this.
She had been wandering around as she pleased until now, but it seemed she thought she needed to produce some results.
Commander (Onee-sama) would probably tell her to spend her time as she liked without worry, but it seemed her conscience bothered her about just playing around.
“What we know so far is that it generates heat when pressure is applied, and that its mass decreases when it generates heat. In other words, it generates heat while consuming mass!”
It seemed that even Ringo had investigated Tone Mag to some extent, but had left it alone without investigating the detailed conditions.
It seemed more accurate to say that she was confused by the lack of scientific approach.
“The constituent elements are unknown! It’s a mysterious substance!”
Contact is possible, so it exists materially. However, no matter what approach is taken, no scientifically explainable element seems to correspond.
To be precise, the elements identified differ depending on the approach taken.
In one test, it may be determined to be carbon, but in another test, it may come out as iron.
Moreover, it seems that the determination result may change even in the same test.
“It’s truly a fantasy substance!”
First, she conducted additional tests on the material properties.
It was confirmed that applying pressure generates heat by actually clamping it with a vise.
The amount of heat generated is constant for a while. After that, the amount of heat generated gradually decreases and it stops generating heat.
While generating heat, the mass decreases at a constant rate.
Adjusting the applied pressure changes the amount of heat generated. Basically, it seems to be proportional to the integral value of the pressure.
If the crystals are small, they will eventually disappear completely while generating heat.
The smaller the fragment, the faster the rate of disappearance. However, since the amount of heat generated is proportional to the applied pressure, the smaller it is, the easier it is to disappear, which means that the heat generation efficiency is poor.
“Hmm… I don’t really understand, but it seems that pressure, heat generation, and disappearance rate all depend on mass. The results don’t change every time, so we can trust these results!”
Unlike the investigation of constituent elements, the results do not change with each verification. Just confirming this was a major step forward.
“The larger the crystal, the slower the rate of mass disappearance. The amount of heat generated does not change. In other words, the larger the crystal, the more efficient it is. I can’t explain it scientifically, but well, let’s just accept it as it is! Really, Ringo needs to accept things as they are!”
While subtly dissing Ringo, Asahi continues the verification.
By this point, 8 hours had passed since the start of the verification.
She is still full of energy.
This time, she exposed the Tone Mag to flames.
When she stuck a fragment into the flame of a gas burner, it was confirmed that it also generated heat and then disappeared.
“Hmm, does burning it generate heat in the same way as applying pressure?”
As a result of various verifications, it was found that heat generation starts by applying heat.
Basically, the amount of heat applied determines the amount of heat generated and the duration of heat generation. This is the same as pressure.
“If you give additional Tone Mag to Tone Mag that is generating heat, you can use it to generate heat one after another. Well, let’s understand that it’s similar to ordinary fuel in that respect.”
Giving heat was not limited to holding it over a flame; there were no problems with heating it with microwaves or laser light. It seems that it can also be soaked in high-temperature oil.
“Hmm, will this generate heat even underwater?”
Underwater, she clamped it in a vise and applied pressure.
“…Oh? It doesn’t generate heat.”
After trying it several times, she was able to confirm that it was generating a slight amount of heat. The water temperature was slightly rising.
“Hmm. It’s hard to generate heat underwater. It doesn’t seem to be simply that the water is taking away the heat.”
By repeating the measurements, she was able to confirm a value of approximately less than 1/100 of the amount of heat generated in the air. To be precise, she was able to confirm a value of 1/121.13.
“Is this some kind of constant? I checked the library, but there is no corresponding value. Is it a value unique to Tone Mag, or something related to magic? I’ll just record it for now.”
Since the equipment currently in use can only measure up to two decimal places, this will be confirmed on another occasion.
“It generated heat without any problems in oil, so is water important?”
When it was half submerged in water, the amount of heat generated was approximately halved.
As a result of measurement, it was found that the amount of heat generated by the part submerged in water was 1/121.
“It’s not enough to just wet it with water. It seems that it is not judged to be submerged in water unless there is a certain amount of mass.”
As a result of continuing the measurement, it was confirmed that this is applied when the mass is heavier than the Tone Mag mass that is judged to be submerged in water. To be precise, it seems that the surface of the water in contact is the reference.
The determination of the water surface depends on the state of the water in contact. For example, if three drops of water are attached, the surface furthest from the center of gravity of the water drops is determined as the water surface.
She is also interested in what would happen in a zero-gravity state, but well, she can measure that on another occasion.
The same was true for ice, and the same results were confirmed even after freezing it in a half-submerged state.
The phenomenon was not confirmed by simply pressing the ice, but when the contact surface of the ice melted due to heat generation, suppression by water occurred. There seems to be no distinction between ice and water, and the contact area seems to be important. If there is air in between, it is not judged to be submerged in water.
“It doesn’t work even if there is metal or oil in between. It seems that the state of being in contact with water is important.”
After that, she tried it with silicone oil, liquids other than water such as alcohol, and various aqueous solutions such as seawater.
As a result, it was found that the component of water is important anyway.
“Hmm, even if there are impurities, it seems that it is judged as water if water is the main component.”
It seems that if the content rate of impurities other than water exceeds approximately 25%, it will no longer be judged as water.
“It may be surprising that it’s not 50%.”
It is unclear whether 25% is exactly 25% due to the accuracy of the equipment, but this will also be investigated in detail on another occasion.
“It is not judged as water with alcohol with a strength of about 30%. I wonder, in terms of fantasy, is it judged as alcohol rather than water?”
Heat generation suppression was not dependent on the water content. Anyway, it seems that when it comes into contact with an aqueous solution that is 75% or more water, a certain heat generation suppression effect occurs.
It’s a mysterious phenomenon, but we have no choice but to accept it as it is.
Now, the next verification is whether Tone Mag can be cut.
“I was able to make scratches with a hard cutting tool.”
When rubbed with a cutting tool for machine tools, scratches appear on the surface.
At the same time, a slight amount of heat was generated.
“It can be cut, but it also generates heat. Hmm, is this the same as applying pressure?”
While measuring the area of the cutting edge, she repeats the experiment.
It seems to be less than the pressure applied, but it was certain that heat was being generated by the pressure.
“Well, it’s good news that it can be cut. Is the hardness about the same as quartz? When cutting, it generates heat and the mass decreases, so you need to take that into account when processing it. If you process it underwater, you can process it relatively freely!”
At this point, 30 hours had passed since the start of the verification.
Since Ringo directly complained that she was overdoing it, Asahi decided to take a short sleep to rest her brain unit.