Scientists and engineers have been trying for decades to find a safe and working way of controlling and containing fusion reactions to generate electricity. The hydrogen bomb uses an atomic (fission) bomb to start fusion reactions.
The only successful approach so far has been in nuclear weapons. They only do that at high pressure and temperature. The only way to stop the repulsion is to make the nuclei hit each other at very high speeds. The reason is that fusion reactions only happen at high temperature and pressure, like in the Sun, because both nuclei have a positive charge, and positive repels positive. On Earth it is very difficult to start nuclear fusion reactions that release more energy than is needed to start the reaction. The star eventually will cool down and die. The iron nucleus cannot fuse with other nuclei. In cases where the interacting nuclei belong to elements with low atomic numbers (e.g., hydrogen atomic number 1 or its isotopes deuterium and tritium ), substantial amounts of energy are released. Stars join all of their atoms together to make heavier atoms of different types, until they start to make iron. nuclear fusion, process by which nuclear reactions between light elements form heavier elements (up to iron ). Iron (a metal) cannot fuse with other atoms. Heavier elements are less easily joined than lighter ones. This energy powers the heat and light of the star. Hydrogen atoms are fused together to make helium. This is shown in Einstein's famous E=mc 2 equation.įusion happens in the middle of stars, like the Sun. This lost mass is changed into lots of energy. However, it is not as heavy as the combination of the original mass of the starting nuclei ( atoms). The nucleus made by fusion is heavier than either of the starting nuclei. This process is called a nuclear reaction. Nuclear fusion is the process of making a single heavy nucleus (part of an atom) from two lighter nuclei. The hydrogen deuterium- tritium (D-T) fusion reaction is used to release the fusion energy.
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