Chapter 125 The microscopic world starting from electrolysis
"Xiao Wang, why can salt water be treated in this way to produce such a poisonous substance?"
yard.
Facing Lao Su's question, Xu Yun suddenly felt solemn.
Sure enough, it came.
This was a situation he had anticipated beforehand, and it was also his purpose today.
In fact, let alone Lao Su, any ancient person who saw the previous scene would definitely have doubts in their hearts.
Xu Yun then took a deep breath and asked instead of directly explaining the concept:
"Sir, I wonder if you have read "The Samasarvastivada One Hundred and One Karma" translated by Tripitaka Master Yijing?"
Speaking of Master Tripitaka, the brain of Xuanzang in "Water Margin" may pop up in many people's minds.
But in fact, Master Tripitaka is a "professional title" just like Professor Lucas introduced before.
It refers to a master in Buddhism who is proficient in the three canonical canon of Sutras, Vinaya and Commentary. Yi Jingze is one of them who is not very famous.
However, Lin Lingsu, the founder of the Shenxiao Sect, is still in the stage of becoming famous, and is still far away from the peak stage of destroying the Buddha in history.
In addition, the time span between the Tang and Song Dynasties was not long, so Lao Su had heard about Yijing’s work:
"Of course."
"Then do you remember a sentence in the book?"
"Which sentence?"
"Ayu led Man Anirudha to look at the water with his heavenly eyes, and he saw it clearly."
Before Xu Yun finished speaking, Lao Su subconsciously continued:
"I saw countless living beings in the water."
Xu Yun nodded, feeling slightly relieved.
It's good that Lao Su knows this.
Then he organized some words and continued:
"Master, have you ever thought about it?
In the world you and I live in, whether it is the air, objects, or even the blood of the human body, are there countless sentient beings?
Or to put it more simply
Are all substances visible to the naked eye actually composed of tiny particles? ”
"Particles?"
When Lao Su heard this, he was stunned for a moment.
It seems a little unclear.
But soon, he understood what Xu Yun meant.
In an instant, Lao Su felt a numbness suddenly rise from his tailbone and reach his head.
He lowered his head subconsciously and glanced at his arms.
Due to the decline of Qi and blood in old age, the veins on his hands are extremely conspicuous.
As a great medical scientist, Lao Su naturally understood this very well.
What flows in these veins is the blood of the human body.
But if we follow what Xu Yun said.
Could it be that there are all living beings in this blood?
Or particles?
This. How is this possible?
This concept already involves the cognitive issue of world view, and Lao Su subconsciously wanted to refute something.
But thinking of Xu Yun's previous actions, he finally just opened his mouth and said nothing.
Looking at Lao Su who seemed to have countless things to say but didn't know how to say them, Xu Yun was filled with emotion.
It is now 1100 AD, and there are still more than five hundred years before the microscopic world is discovered by real scientific instruments.
It's even further away from microscopic theory being compiled into a system, and it will take seven to eight hundred years to guarantee it.
So he knew it.
What he said had such an impact on Lao Su, it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was earth-shattering.
Of course.
With that Buddhist verse at the beginning, the impact of this topic has been minimized.
In later generations, many people talked about the microscopic world and often quoted another Buddhist verse:
"The Buddha observes that there are eighty-four thousand insects in a bowl of water."
However, this sentence was not recorded in the "Bini Daily Record" by a lawyer who read the text until the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Xu Yun can only quote the book "Sarvastivada One Hundred and One Karma" at the moment.
This book title could use a few more words, which would be nice.
Xu Yun then observed Lao Su, and after seeing him gradually recovering from the shock, he continued:
"Master, according to the notes of the Fengling Yueying Sect, everything in the world is composed of smaller particles.
These particles are called molecules, and molecules are made up of atoms, which are the smallest things in the world.
Therefore, it can also be said that everything in the world is composed of atoms. ”
Lao Su repeated:
"Atom? Molecule?"
Xu Yun nodded and pointed to the remaining coarse salt solution in front of him:
"For example, salt water is a substance composed of sodium chloride molecules and water molecules.
Contains atoms such as chlorine, sodium, oxygen, and hydrogen.
When chlorine atoms and hydrogen atoms combine, they form hydrogen chloride gas. When hydrogen chloride dissolves in water, it forms the hydrochloric acid we see. ”
Tell the truth.
From the perspective of later generations, Xu Yun's words are actually not rigorous.
In later generations, matter from largest to smallest will look like this:
The entire universe can be broken down into individual galaxy clusters and galaxies.
Galaxies can be decomposed into planets, and planets can be decomposed into molecules and atoms.
Molecules can be broken down into atoms.
Atoms can be broken down into nuclei and electrons.
Atomic nuclei can be broken down into protons and neutrons.
Protons and neutrons can (theoretically) be broken down into quarks.
The current theory and technology are reaching the quark level. There are 62 kinds of "elementary" particles such as quarks, leptons, and gluons, among which photons are more special.
Therefore, Xu Yun’s correct statement should be that ‘sodium chloride is an ionic compound, consisting of a sodium ion and a chloride ion in the form of an ionic bond’.
For another example, when talking about chemical properties, it would be more accurate to describe sodium, chlorine, hydrogen, and oxygen as elements.
However, for Lao Su, a beginner, the top priority right now is to establish microscopic cognition as soon as possible, so the subdivision of matter is not that important:
It actually doesn't make much sense for you and him to explain ions, protons, and atomic numbers.
Sometimes, exchanging academic laxity for easy-to-understand knowledge may actually be a good thing.
As he spoke, Xu Yun grabbed a handful of air and said to Lao Su:
"In fact, not only in solutions, but also in our air, there are gas molecular particles formed by oxygen atoms and carbon atoms.
These are the things that cannot be seen or touched.
These particles are inhaled into the body, and some of them provide the energy our bodies need to survive. ”
Lao Su also took a handful of air, looked at his empty palms, and suddenly thought of something.
I saw him turning his head to look at Xu Yun and chanting:
"If you take half of a one-foot stick every day, it will last forever?"
When Xu Yun heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then his eyes suddenly widened and he took a deep breath.
Good guy.
Lao Su's acceptance speed was so terrifying!
If Lao Su was born in later generations, I'm afraid he would also be a super genius.
One-foot-long chai, half of it is taken every day, and it will last for eternity.
This sentence comes from "Zhuangzi Tianxia Chapter".
Actually.
The original meaning of this sentence is that Zhuangzi was satirizing Hui Shi, saying that he liked to create weird theories through sophistry.
However, later generations' understanding gradually became distorted, and they regarded it as a question to explore the origin of the world:
If a one-foot-long stick keeps taking away half of it, is it infinite?
Also worth mentioning.
The later generations here do not refer to the 21st century, but to the feudal dynasty period, roughly from the early Tang Dynasty to the late Ming Dynasty.
It's obvious.
This sentence involves a certain micro concept - especially in the current environment, there is no need to elaborate on the meaning of Lao Su's quote.
Given that there is nearly a thousand years or a complete scientific theory system between the two sides, this is already the most appropriate sentence that Old Su can find.
This is like a junior high school student who has only mastered the basic algorithm and is learning Maxwell's equations at a cross-level level.
There is obviously an insurmountable barrier between the two, but the junior high school student just found a generalized solution to the linear group.
Then Lao Su tapped his fingers on the table where Xu Yun was doing experiments, and the stone table made a dull clanging sound:
"Xiao Wang, according to you, this stone table is also composed of molecules?"
Xu Yun nodded and affirmed:
"Yes, its constituent molecules are called calcium carbonate and silicon dioxide, and are composed of calcium atoms, carbon atoms, oxygen atoms and silicon atoms."
Lao Su blinked, noticed a word, and said curiously:
"Xiao Wang, if I remember correctly.
The word oxygen atom seems to be mentioned in the three examples you mentioned? ”
Xu Yun was no longer surprised by Lao Su's acumen, so he nodded sharply:
"Yes, oxygen and carbon atoms are basically one of the most common atoms in nature, so the number of occurrences must be higher."
Lao Su nodded slightly, and just when Xu Yun thought he was going to ask some more questions about particle structure, the conversation suddenly changed:
"Xiao Wang, then according to what you said, your illness is also caused by molecules or atoms?"
Xu Yun was surprised and stunned for a few seconds, then he was silent for a moment after coming back to his senses:
"Although Zhonghou's illness can be said to be related to atoms, a more accurate statement is
Bacteria cause disease. ”
"Bacteria?"
Xu Yun took a deep breath and explained:
"Master, do you remember the sentence I quoted before? There are all living things in the air.
This word is not an exaggerated description. In fact, there are a large number of tiny creatures in the air that are difficult to see directly with the naked eye.
In the handbooks of Fengling Yueying Sect, they are called microorganisms.
Some of these microorganisms are beneficial to the human body, some are relatively neutral, and some are extremely harmful.
For example, Zhonghou's disease is bacteremia and septicemia caused by Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, and Gram-positive bacteria, which is considered a serious disease.
After these microorganisms entered Zhonghou's body, they brought a large amount of toxins into Zhonghou's blood.
These toxins travel from the wound to the entire body through circulation, causing the patient to become severely comatose. ”
Same particle structure as before.
Xu Yun’s explanation of microorganisms is also a bit broader:
He temporarily concealed the key distinction of cell structure and directly classified the properties of bacteria and viruses together. The purpose was the same, so that Lao Su could understand them.
Perhaps it is due to the previous material particles laying the foundation.
After Xu Yun said these words that were contrary to the eyes of this era, Lao Su's reaction was not so rude.
After all, he is also a quasi-authoritative doctor, and he has relatively little cognitive agreement with the concept of 'microorganisms'.
After all, the descriptions of many diseases in Chinese medicine begin with the word "gan", such as the often heard "evil energy/yin energy/turbid energy entering the body" and so on.
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the human body has a normal operating state, and any factors that cause problems in this operating state are evil.
Wind-cold is the evil of cold, and tuberculosis is the evil of plague.
In fact, one word "epidemic" is enough to explain a lot of things.
But in order to avoid conflicts, let’s be conservative.
Not to mention it is a microscopic concept, at least it can be regarded as a judgment of the source of the disease. There is nothing wrong with this, right?
This is a relatively primitive understanding, so it is quite easy to understand what Lao Su said about 'microorganisms'.
However, just because you listen, it doesn't mean you accept this concept. Lao Su's temperament is obviously not the kind of person who listens to the wind and rain.
I saw him thinking for a while, and then asked aloud:
"Be it atoms or microorganisms.
These things are certainly invisible to the naked eye, so how do you know they exist? ”
Xu Yun was silent for a moment and suddenly smiled:
"Sir, have you ever heard of a microscope?" (End of Chapter)