What does alchemy mean?
Word: Alchemy
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Alchemy means an old form of chemistry, practised in the Middle Ages, that tried to turn ordinary metals into gold.
How do you spell alchemy?
Syllables: al - che - my
Tricky part: The k sound is spelt ch, as in chemist and school.
Watch out for: alkemy, alcemy
Memory tip: Carve ch over the door of a medieval workshop in your mind: the k sound here never uses a k.
Alchemy in a sentence
Example 1: Our history book has a picture of a workshop used for alchemy.
Example 2: The novel's hero studies alchemy in a dusty tower.
Example 3: Modern chemistry owes some of its early equipment to alchemy.
Fun Fact
Sir Isaac Newton, famous for his work on gravity, spent years on private alchemy experiments and wrote a great deal about them.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Three of these words are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word:
1. alchemey 2. algebra 3. geometry 4. astronomy
a) maths that uses letters for numbers
b) the study of lines, angles and shapes
c) the study of stars and planets
d) an early study that hoped to make precious metal
Show answer
d) an early study that hoped to make precious metal. No e belongs before the y, which marks this word as the misspelt one.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
A student of mhylace in the Middle Ages would mix metals over a slow flame.
a) archery
b) algebra
c) anatomy
d) alchemy
Show answer
d) alchemy. Anatomy needs an n and a t, algebra a b, and archery an r.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to form a word:
a_ch_my
a) l, a
b) l, i
c) l, e
d) r, e
Show answer
c) l, e. An l comes before the ch, and the weak vowel after it is an e.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
alchemmy
a) y
b) m
c) a
d) c
Show answer
b) m. The m is single, just as it is in enemy.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What would you most expect to find in the workshop of someone practising alchemy?
a) looms, needles and reels of silk
b) pens, rulers and maps of Asia
c) nets, oars and coils of rope
d) flasks, furnaces and lumps of lead
Show answer
d) flasks, furnaces and lumps of lead
2. Why did alchemy attract rulers and rich patrons?
a) It promised endless wealth.
b) It taught better farming.
c) It improved their handwriting.
d) It offered faster travel.
Show answer
a) It promised endless wealth.
