Fusion 2
Fusion reactions are inhibited by the electrical repulsive force that acts between two positively charged nuclei. For fusion to occur, the two nuclei must approach each other at high speed to overcome the electrical repulsion and attain a sufficiently small separation (less than one-trillionth of a centimeter) that the short-range strong nuclear force dominates. For the production of useful amounts of energy, a large number of nuclei must under go fusion: that is to say, a gas of fusing nuclei must be produced. In a gas at extremely high temperature, the average nucleus contains sufficient kinetic energy to undergo fusion. Such a medium can be produced by heating an ordinary gas of ...
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states. When energy is continuously applied to a solid, it first melts, then it vaporizes, and finally electrons are removed from some of the neutral gas atoms and molecules to yield a mixture of positively charged ions and negatively charged electrons, while overall neutral charge density is maintained. When a significant portion of the gas has been ionized, its properties will be altered so substantially that little resemblance to solids, liquids, and gases remains. A plasma is unique in the way in which it interacts with itself with electric and magnetic fields, and with its environment. A plasma can be thought of as a collection of ions, electrons, neutral atoms and molecules, an photons in which some atoms are being ionized simultaneously with other electrons recombining with ions to form neutral particles, while photons are continuously being produced and absorbed.
Scientists have estimated that more than 99 percent of the matter in the universe exists in the plasma ...
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generating requires control and confinement of a plasma at high temperature and is often called controlled thermonuclear fusion.
In the development of fusion power technology, demonstration of “ energy breakeven” is taken to signify the scientific feasibility of fusion. At breakeven, the fusion power produced by a plasma is equal to the power input to maintain the plasma. This requires a plasma that is hot, dense, and well confined. The temperature required, about 100 million Kelvins, is several times that of the Sun. The product of the density and energy confinement time of the plasma (the time it takes the plasma to lose its energy if not replaced) must exceed a ...
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"Fusion 2." Essayworld.com. May 7, 2004. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Fusion-2/7416.
"Fusion 2." Essayworld.com. May 7, 2004. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Fusion-2/7416.
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