alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world ...

, fixation is a process by which a previously

volatile Volatility or volatile may refer to: Chemistry * Volatility (chemistry), a measuring tendency of a substance or liquid to vaporize easily * Relative volatility, a measure of vapor pressures of the components in a liquid mixture * Volatiles, a gr ...

substance is "transformed" into a form (often

solid Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structura ...

) that is not affected by

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

. It separates the substance or object and puts it back in the same or different shape at a subatomic level. Fixation is sometimes listed as one of the processes required for transformation of a substance, or completion of the alchemical

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

See also