Intro to Alchemy6
crossroads:phial_glass|crossroads:progress/path/alchemy
<thing>Alchemy/$ adds a new crafting system based on <thing>reactions/$ which forms the core of <thing>alchemy/$. In this system, <thing>reagents/$ are ingredients that can react to make different <thing>reagents/$. There is a <thing>reagent/$ for distilled water, redstone dust, metals, salt, gems, and many other items. The item and <thing>reagent/$ forms can be converted between in a 1:1 ratio. For some <thing>reagents/$, <link:alchemy/fluid_injector>certain fluids can also be converted/$. When crafting something in <thing>alchemy/$ that requires an <thing>alchemy/$ specific ingredient, you don't craft the ingredient directly- you make the <thing>reagent/$ using <thing>reactions/$ and convert it to item form.
A typical <thing>reagent/$ has three <thing>phases/$ they can be: <thing>Solid/$, <thing>Liquid/$, or <thing>Gas/$. Only the <thing>solid/$ form can be converted to an item. The <link:intro/heat>temperature/$ of a <thing>reagent/$ controls its <thing>phase/$. Above the <thing>reagent's boiling point/$ it will be a <thing>gas/$, below <thing>melting point/$ it will be <thing>solid/$, and between the two temperatures it will be <thing>liquid/$. The <thing>melting point/$, <thing>boiling point/$, and item form of any <thing>reagent/$ can be viewed via the Just Enough Items (JEI) support- assuming you have JEI installed.
Commonly used <thing>reagents/$ that you will want a large supply of are: Distilled Water (or Packed Ice), Salt, Redstone Dust, and either Gunpowder or <link:fluid/ingr>Slag/$.

A typical <thing>reaction/$- the recipes that use and make <thing>reagents/$- will have certain ingredients and products, which will be used/made in set ratios. There will be a temperature range that the ingredients need to be within for the <thing>reaction/$ to occur. Some <thing>reactions/$ will have a <thing>catalyst/$, which is a <thing>reagent/$ that needs to be present for the <thing>reaction/$ to occur, but <em>will not be consumed/$. Most <thing>reactions/$ will also either produce or consume heat (increase or decrease the temperature) when they occur- these are listed in the JEI are 'exothermic' or 'endothermic' respectively. 'Isothermic' means they do not affect the temperature at all.
Some <thing>reactions/$ will require a <link:alchemy/charger>charged environment/$ to occur. This will be shown by a 'lightning bolt' symbol in JEI.
Some <thing>reactions/$ (specifically making a <item><link:alchemy/stones>Philosopher's Stone/$ and <item><link:alchemy/stones>Practitioner's Stone/$) will require exact proportions in the ingredients. Get the proportions wrong, and it will explode. These <thing>reactions/$ are shown by a 'bomb' symbol in JEI.
There are also a couple <thing>reactions/$ with no products that just explode. For example, gunpowder above its ignition temperature. These <thing>reactions/$ are shown by a 'bomb' symbol in JEI with no products.

<thing>Reagents/$ usually have to held in glassware- which will have two versions: Glass and Crystal. Most <thing>reagents/$ can be held in either, but a few (notably the <item><link:alchemy/stones>Philosopher's Stone/$) must be held in a crystal container or they will destroy the container. The reagent JEI will note if a <thing>reagent/$ must be held in crystal.
Usual glassware used for early alchemy and manual crafting are <link:alchemy/glassware><item>phials and florence flasks/$. Glassware for automation in <thing>alchemy/$ are things like <item><link:alchemy/conduit>conduits/$ and <item><link:alchemy/vessel>reaction chambers/$. When automating <thing>reactions/$, it is important to know that solids and liquids will move down but not up, and gasses will move up but not down in <item><link:alchemy/conduit>conduits/$.
When <thing>reagent/$ are released- either by being poured from <item><link:alchemy/glassware>phials/$, being <item><link:alchemy/vent>vented/$, or something else, they will perform an <link:alchemy/effect>effect/$. Several <thing>reagents/$ have <link:alchemy/effect>effects/$ more valuable than the <thing>reagent/$ itself as a crafting ingredient.
Remember, everything in <thing>Alchemy/$ can be automated. Even if you don't want to automate an entire <thing>reaction/$ chain, automating common steps (like making <item>quicksilver/$) will make things much easier. Your first goal if you want to progress should probably be to make <item><link:alchemy/acid>Aqua Regia/$.