How would magic, or a similar thing, look like if it was purely based on chemistry?

I'll give you some examples on how this would look like on the high end of magic but first you have to understand how chemistry works. All chemical reactions look like this: $$A + B \rightarrow C + D$$ The goal is always to create $C$ and $D$ by reacting $A$ and $B$. If you always get $E$ and $F$ instead because $A + B \rightarrow C + D$ is not a valid reaction, then tough luck. # Spells First, let's differentiate between what is magic and what isn't. Anything that follows the laws of physics is not magic. If you somehow make something float in the air without anything holding it up, it's not magic. If you somehow make something float in the air by using magnets and other physical laws, it's just science. On the other hand, if you somehow make something float in the air by an invisible force that isn't based on any physical law, then it's not magic either! *Magic is not anything that doesn't follow physical laws, it's anything that doesn't follow chemical laws. Magic is chemistry on steroids.* Let's look at an example of how magic would look like. This is a spell to turn lead into gold: $$Pb + Hg \rightarrow Au + Hg$$ It's impossible in the real world because lead is more stable than gold, and you'd need absurd amounts of energy to do this. But if you somehow got that reaction to work, lead would turn into gold, so it's a spell. The problem is, turning lead into gold is more of an alchemy spell than a magic spell. Magic can be a lot more powerful. Let's look at another example: $$CH_4 + 2O_2 \rightarrow 2H_2O + CO_2 + E$$ $E$ is the magical part of the reaction, it's where all the magical energy comes from. It's essentially the reaction that powers magic wands. Not that it does anything on its own, you have to make it do something. Say you want to make something levitate. Here's an example of how you'd do it: $$2CH_4 + 4O_2 \rightarrow 4H_2O + 2CO_2 + 2E \rightarrow 2H_2O + 2CO_2 + F$$ In this reaction, the magical energy from $2E$ is converted to a magical force denoted $F$ which has the effect of levitating an object. That's a very simplified example though, the real reaction is this: $$2CH_4 + 4O_2 \rightarrow 4H_2O + 2CO_2 + 2E \rightarrow 2H_2O + 2CO_2 + \bar{F} + 2F + H$$ So here we have $F$ which is positive magical energy, $\bar{F}$ which is negative magical energy, and $H$ which is heat. Heat isn't magical, it's a physical byproduct of the reaction. The negative magical energy is also known as a "curse". If you were to somehow create a spell that generated only negative energy, it'd be what people known as a "curse". And that's another thing, a spell can "curse" you. Not in the traditional "you will feel pain until you die" sense, but it will create a magical energy around you that does nasty things to you in the long run. # Magical Energy $$2CH_4 + 2O_2 \rightarrow 2CH_3OH + 2E$$ $$2C_2H_6 + 7O_2 \rightarrow 4CO_2 + 6H_2O + 4E$$ $$6H_2 + 3O_2 \rightarrow 6H_2O + 6E$$ $$E \rightarrow 3.23 x 10^{7}J$$ Every time you make a unit of magical energy, you can convert it to a certain amount of joules. Not that it always does, in a spell it's mostly converted into other forms of magical energy, but it can be converted to heat. That's why a spell can go wrong and burn you, the magical energy can randomly convert to heat or negative energy instead of what they're supposed to do. If it converts to negative energy, you are cursed. If it converts to heat, you are burned. # A Curse $$2CH_4 + 2O_2 \rightarrow 2CH_3OH + 2\bar{E}$$ $$2C_2H_6 + 7O_2 \rightarrow 4CO_2 + 6H_2O + 4\bar{E}$$ $$6H_2 + 3O_2 \rightarrow 6H_2O + 6\bar{E}$$ $$\bar{E} \rightarrow 3.23 x 10^{7}J$$ This is a curse, magical energy that has a negative effect on you. You can get cursed randomly from a spell, or you can be cursed intentionally with a curse. Curses are less common than spells, since the raw materials to make them are not as common as those of a spell. You can't randomly convert a spell into a curse either, it's not like magical energy can randomly decided to have negative effects. If you somehow manage to convert a spell into a curse, it has a negative effect on you. This means that if you were to intentionally convert a spell into a curse, it would have a negative effect on the thing the curse is cast onto. That's why we call it a curse, it's a spell with negative effects that is cast onto something. Curses can only be cast intentionally since you can't randomly convert a spell to a curse. # Discussion Topics Feel free to ask me questions or ask me to expand on these ideas. **Update: I will respond to all your comments tomorrow afternoon. I'm a little too tired to do it now.** warning: i just seen the movie "practical magic" and so this post is inspired by that movie and by my knowledge of chemistry

How would magic, or a similar thing, look like if it was purely based on chemistry?

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