Chapter 174: Verification of Redstone Technology (2)
The appearance of Redstone resembles a pink crystal. Its surface is uneven, causing light to scatter and giving it a somewhat dull hue. The most notable feature is that it generates heat when pressure is applied. Its hardness has not been measured precisely, but it is roughly equivalent to quartz.
So, what happens when pressure exceeding its hardness is applied?
“Let’s give it a try first.”
Setting the Redstone in the hardness tester, I begin to apply force.
“Oh? It deforms, doesn’t it?”
As the pressure gradually increases, I can see the tip of the blade slightly embedding into the Redstone. However, shortly after, a dull sound is heard, and the Redstone shatters.
“Whoa!”
The shattered pieces of Redstone emit a high temperature and rapidly shrink in size.
“That’s quite a lot of heat, but it disappeared in an instant!”
The fragmented Redstone heated up dramatically and vanished, likely due to the high pressure applied to all the generated fragments, causing them to lose mass quickly.
“Hmm, it does exhibit plastic deformation, after all. Oh dear, the hardness tester is broken now. That’s an incredible amount of heat!”
The heat emitted by the Redstone has completely destroyed the heat-sensitive parts of the hardness tester. Resin components and the insulation of the wires have melted away, and the metal parts seem to have warped due to thermal expansion.
“Let’s try this underwater! We’ll need a pressure device suitable for underwater use.”
Thus, I urgently request RINGO to manufacture a pressure device for underwater experiments. Since it will take some time, I decide to continue the verification manually until it’s ready.
First, I conduct an experiment to crush the Redstone underwater with high pressure. I clamp it in a vise and begin applying force.
“Hmm. Underwater, the heat generation is minimal. Most of the shattered pieces remain intact. The smaller fragments have disappeared! Crushing it underwater seems feasible!”
In the water, the heat generation phenomenon is suppressed. If I want to create fine fragments, it appears that crushing them underwater is the way to go.
Additionally, since pressure was applied underwater, I was able to confirm plastic deformation effectively. The contact surface with the vise has slightly flattened.
“Once the pressure device is ready, let’s conduct precise measurements! If it has plasticity, we might be able to shape it a bit!”
The amount of heat generated by the Redstone varies with the pressure applied. However, the rough, natural shape of the mined Redstone makes it difficult to apply uniform pressure. Heating begins at the contact surface, leading to variations in heat generation depending on the location.
“Well, ultimately, the heat generated will cause the entire Redstone to heat up…”
It seems that some loss occurs during this process, and Redstone with irregular shapes tends to be less efficient. This is merely speculation, as I haven’t gathered any statistics yet.
“If I can flatten the end surfaces, it might improve heat generation efficiency!”
For now, I decide to mass-produce Redstone blocks with flattened ends to measure the efficiency.
Since I need to work underwater, I can’t use standard machine tools. It will take time, but I have no choice but to use a robotic arm to shape each piece one by one.
“Hmm… Unexpectedly, I’ve found myself with some downtime. Alright, let’s analyze the physical properties recorded during heat generation!”
After applying pressure to the Redstone block and recording the data until the heat subsides, I analyze the results. I’ve recorded various physical properties, including infrared, visible light, radar points, weight, and electromagnetic waves.
“Applying pressure to the sides. Oh! The heat generation starts at the pressure application points! It transitions to the entire block in about 0.1 seconds. Interesting, does this heat propagation depend on mass? I’ll check this with another sample later. Ah, it seems that if the shape of the block isn’t uniform, the speed of this heat propagation changes! Let’s add this to our verification items! After heat generation begins, mass loss occurs… essentially uniformly. However, initially, only the areas where heat is generated lose mass. Mass loss is linked to heat generation. Indeed, mass is being directly converted into heat! It’s baffling that mass can turn into heat without annihilation with antimatter…”
By the way, nuclear fission and fusion also involve the phenomenon of mass being converted into heat. To put it bluntly, due to the law of conservation of energy, the sum of mass and thermal energy before the reaction equals the sum after the reaction.
“However, this Redstone isn’t undergoing nuclear reactions or fusion. The amount of heat generated is far too low for the constituent molecules to have vanished. It seems that Redstone does not have a conventional molecular structure!”
I cannot identify the elements of Redstone, and no consistent results emerge no matter how many times I test. This suggests that it is not composed of atoms made of electrons, protons, and neutrons.
“I did observe it under an electron microscope, but it appears to be a normal substance. It looks like single atoms are arranged in a line, but…”
From what I can see, the atoms are arranged in a regular pattern, and it is undeniable that something resembling atoms is gathered together. Yet, its true nature remains a mystery.
“As for its properties, at least it doesn’t conduct electricity. I applied quite a bit of voltage, but there are no signs of insulation breakdown. Could it be used as a high-quality insulator?”
While I leave the finer details to RINGO, Asahi ponders.
“From a magical (fantasy) perspective, it might resemble something made of magic power, like atoms composed of magic. Since it’s not an atom, it doesn’t conduct electricity, and thus, insulation breakdown doesn’t occur. Hmm, just a wild thought. Well, that’s fine.”
Having produced several Redstone blocks with flattened ends, I decide to continue the experiments.
“Now, this one fits perfectly in the vise. Let’s apply pressure!”
With that, Asahi records various instances of pressure application and heat generation.
The structural loss due to heat occurs from the surface. The internal components remain intact, so they don’t become hollow.
Moreover, when high pressure is applied, the pressure application surface collapses while rapidly generating heat. In this case, only the pressure application surface reaches extreme temperatures, while the interior maintains heat generation similar to normal pressure application. However, the heating from the high temperature at the pressure application surface seems to promote heat generation, resulting in the entire block rapidly disappearing while generating heat.
While experimenting with various combinations, Asahi discovers an important phenomenon.
“Hmm? Both ends are generating heat… hmm?”
By simply combining two Redstone blocks and applying pressure with the vise, it appeared that heat generation was occurring only at the ends in contact with the vise.
“Hmm… Let’s try this underwater.”
I clamp two pieces of Redstone together and apply pressure. There doesn’t seem to be anything unusual in the reaction itself. However, when I stop applying pressure and remove the vise, the two pieces of Redstone do not separate.
“Wow, this could be a major discovery! Let’s investigate further.”
When pressure is applied to two blocks from both sides, pressure should naturally occur at the central contact surface as well. Thus, based on previous observations, it would be expected that heat generation would begin at both ends and the center.
However, that was not the case. Heat generation occurred only at both ends, while the center did not heat up.
“Hmm… They are perfectly fused together!”
The Redstone blocks, with their ends in contact, had their contact surfaces beautifully fused. Such a phenomenon does not occur with ordinary substances. While it might be possible to join them by removing all impurities and aligning the surfaces at the atomic level, achieving such fusion in this haphazard environment, without any visible seams, is extraordinary.
“Could it be that simply pressing them together causes fusion?”
After varying the conditions and continuing the verification, I uncover the conditions for crystal fusion.
When pressure is applied to Redstone blocks in contact, the contact surfaces fuse. Once more than one-twelfth of the surface area has fused, they are treated as a single crystal. If pressure is applied outside of water, heat generation and mass loss occur, making fusion practically impossible. However, when pressure is applied underwater, the mass lost is nearly zero as long as the size exceeds a certain threshold. The contact surfaces need to align, but if the surface irregularities are around one-hundredth of a millimeter, they can completely fuse due to plastic deformation.
“I see. It seems quite challenging with sand-like materials, but with chunks of a few centimeters, if combined properly, they should fuse beautifully!”
Thus, through Asahi’s investigation, the method for producing massive Redstone was established.