This is the literal change of one type of subatomic particle into another. The weak force, also called the weak nuclear interaction, is responsible for particle decay. Fundamental forces of nature: The weak force

And at the molecular and atomic levels, gravity has almost no effect relative to the other fundamental forces. Think of it this way: How hard is it to lift a ball off the ground? Or to lift your foot? Or to jump? All of those actions are counteracting the gravity of the entire Earth. They then organise the above 'movements' into various laws, such as Wood parts Earth, Water extinguishes Fire, Fire melts Metal, and Metal chops Wood - and this then leads on to 60 sub-elements a small sample of which is:Īmazing and astonishingly quite articulate.Though gravity holds planets, stars, solar systems and even galaxies together, it turns out to be the weakest of the fundamental forces of nature, especially at the molecular and atomic scales. Here are their five 'movements' - a different word to 'elements' with a subtle twist: I know many Chinese people, and I love hearing their cultural stories - everything seems to have a meaning or some deep-rooted story. Of course though, I think no culture can lay claim to the most poetic interpretation of the elements as China. What about the human body elements: according to the Ancient Egyptians this was:Īncient egyptian doctors commonly considered good health to be a careful balance of these. Maybe I'll come back to this answer when I don't have a migraine. I'm afraid I can't offer any suggestion for what that additional pair could be, however. I'd recommend either sticking with just those ten elements, or adding another pair of opposites for a total of twelve, like the zodiac. This is why I haven't included Form, Speed, or Sound: I can't think of anything that any of them would pair neatly with, and so they'd break the pattern. Notice how they form neat, contrasting pairs: water puts out fire, metal conducts electricity, and so on. So the definite ones so far are: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Metal, Electricity, Life, Death, Light, Darkness. Shadow: Can't have light without shadow.As for Speed, I'll come back to that one. Speed/Sound: Sound could possibly be grouped under Air, as it's really just vibrating air.If it lets you control anyone's form, that's kinda overpowered and, like Time, you may need to rethink this one. Form: Form of what? Your own form? If the Form Amulet lets you control your own form (i.e.

Look at Harry Potter and the Time-Turners. Besides, if there's an item in your story that that lets people control time, this will open up a million potential headaches for you.

Time: I'd say this violates your own rule of 'no basic universal powers'.

Like energy, 'Destruction' is a nebulous concept that comes in many forms, many of which are already covered by other elements (particularly Fire).

Destruction/Death: I'd narrow this down to just Death.

Plants and animals count as life, after all.

Creation/Life/Plants & Animals: Assuming this is all supposed to be one element, I'd simplify it down to just Life.

Energy comes in several different forms - light, heat, electricity - and you've already given most of them their own elements. Energy: I think this is too nebulous a concept to be an element in its own right.Personally, I'd separate these into two separate elements: Earth is (comparatively) soft, and nurturing to life, whereas Metal is cold, hard, and used to construct weapons of war. Lightning: I'd change this to Electricity, so it encompasses all forms of electrical energy and not just lightning.Wind/Air: Again, wind is just moving air, so you can simplify this one down to just Air.Water/Ice: Ice is just frozen water, so you can simplify this one down to just Water.It seems like you've already decided on an elemental system, so I'm going to focus on the question posed in the body of your question: An noted in the comments, 'How many elements are there' depends on which elemental system you're using.

4 elements of nature earth