Fusion Definition and 849 Threads

Homework Statement This is for my intro to General Relativity class, using Hartle's text Gravity: An intro to Einstein's GR. 12.1 "How many protons must combine to make one He nuclei every second to provide the luminosity of the Sun? Estimate how long the Sun could go on at this rate before...

Hi, I'm doing some coursework on nuclear fusion, and am trying to calculate the energy released by fusing a tritium and a deuterium atom together. I used the equation: ( Σ mass (reactants) - Σ mass (products) ) x 931.5 MeV/amu = Binding energy. and Deuterium + Tritium = Helium +...

Hi, I'm doing some coursework on nuclear fusion, and am trying to calculate the energy released by fusing a tritium and a deuterium atom together. I used the equation: ( Σ mass (reactants) - Σ mass (products) ) x 931.5 MeV/amu = Binding energy. and Deuterium + Tritium = Helium +...

Coils produce a magnetic field which confines a big plasma ball. The magnetic field is rapidly increased which makes the plasma ball implode. In the compressed state fusion happens. The plasma ball explodes and compresses the surrounding magnetic field. This produces more induction in the...

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used the NIF ( National Ignition Facility ) laser to reach encouraging progress toward ignition From "The Independent" newpaper serving Livermore: http://www.independentnews.com/news/article_792110c0-2c5b-11e3-846e-001a4bcf887a.html...

Hi everyone, I am currently applying to graduate schools in nuclear engineering. I am applying to some top 10 schools and also some lower ranked ones as safeties. However, my fear is that if I am not accepted to a top ten school I will have to attend the safety schools. I am not particularly...

Can anyone say how close we are to obtaining a workable nuclear fusion generating plant? I understand the largest trial is being built in France (albeit with many delays apparently) Does anyone have any understanding as to what the best guess is to this technology being available to the...

Hi I thought about a question , say we have a sphere into which D D or D T fusion takes place , now that forms the end product which differs according to the reactants used but the thing that interests me here is that the fusion end product is always heavier than each of the products that made...

In the fusion of hydrogen to give helium, some protons get converted into neutrons. As a proton and neutron have no electrostatic force of repulsion between them, the potential energy between the two protons is released in the form of gamma rays(ultimately). Also part of the energy is used to...

Hi! I wonder why it is so hard to make a fusion reaction last for more than a few seconds. I have read a few elementary courses in Plasma Physics but do not remember so much. What I do rememeber is that they said that whenever a fusion reaction starts within a Tokamak the plasma tends...

Hi I have a question , now in fusion reactors like a tokamak design and also in others , if they use say the deuterium tritium mixture as fusion fuel which ends up in some released binding energy , alpha particles, a energetic neutron etc. Now the neutron and alpha particles an d all other stuff...

A friend of mine is writing a Sci Fi tale set a few centuries in the future. While there will be futuristic technologies to make the plot go, she said she wants to try to make it realistic at least to the point where she inst violating the laws of physics. The part she asked me about involved...

I have questions regarding nuclear fusion: 1: Can all atoms fuse, say a hydrogen and carbon atom, could they fuse? or does it need to be the same type of atoms. 2: Are there any equations that determine the force needed to fuse? I'd think it'd have to do with x and x2 number of protons...

Homework Statement How much heat is required to heat 0.2kg of ice from -20°C to 30°C? Homework Equations Total heat lost or gained : ##Q = mcΔt## where ##Δt## is the change in temperature and c is the heat capacity. Latent Heat Fusion : ##Q = mL_f## The Attempt at a Solution From my...

Why can't the Sun (or any star) fuse elements higher than iron? Could anyone provide a technical answer? Thanks!

Sure we all know it happens at the core of the Sun, but the half life for a proton there is a billion years because p + p -> D + e + v is so unlikely A thermonuke bomb using light H would give no extra energy at all above the fission primary. Even the Sun only gives a few watts for bomb...

Homework Statement I did an experiment where crushed ice was added to a known volume of warm water and stirred until all the ice melted. My initial water temperature was 40.2°C and the final water temperature was 3.1°C. The known volume of water is 150 mL = 150 g and the melted ice was found...

hello, new to site. This is my first post. I just was wondering what any ones thoughts were on using the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen cycle in a dense plasma focus device to produce aneutronic fusion power.

After long thinking I decided that I want to do either engineering or science. I am not really interested in one specific field in science but I am more interested in what field is more useful, active and revolutionary. I became very interested in quantum computing but I lost interest since it...

Does anyone know of the drawbacks and future plans anything to look out for?

I've seen a few posts about fusion on this thread so I thought I'd give this a shot: I'm an mechanical engineering grad student working in alternative energy and have become interested in learning more about fusion (I'm currently conducting research on fuel cell systems). What are some good...

Homework Statement mass of cup 1.78g initial mass of water and cup - 54.26g finlal mass of water after ice added - 91.26g initial temperature - 27°C temperature after heated - 92°C temperature after ice added - 35°C problem 1) how much heat energy did the original mass of water lose...

If I have a fusion reactor running at some designated power output (let's say, for instance, 5x10^8 Watts), how can I find how long it takes to burn a fuel source provided I know the composition of the fuel. For this example, let me just say I have half deuterium and half tritium? I'm not...

What is so good about having a hohlraum, and is it destroyed after every pulse?

Hi everyone, First, I would like to thank all of you for helping me with my research paper. The paper was a big success! As I mentioned in previous posts, I'm about to start my college education as a nuclear engineer. I am debating between nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. I understand the...

I'd like to know what people think of this as a future power source, what the benefits and the problems are etc. I'll probably watch this tonight: Here also is an interesting website which has some experiments linked: http://hif.lbl.gov/VNLresearch.html So many ways of approaching...

ITER is the fusion reactor in southern France that hopefully will come online in 2018. According to wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER The ITER fusion reactor itself has been designed to produce 500 megawatts of output power for 50 megawatts of input power. Does this mean that if...

Let me start with some statements that I think are fairly accurate. That way errors can more easily be corrected later, when I use those statements to ask some questions and maybe speculate a bit. The muon is a subatomic particle that greatly resembles an electron, except it is about 206...

Ok, I am a fusion physicist, but I still don't know what the strict criterion is for calling a nuclear reaction a fusion reaction. Yes, it's a collision between two nuclei that results in a bigger nucleus. But, then ^{11}B + ^{1}H \rightarrow 3 \alpha is usually called a fusion reaction. Isn't...

How can two Black holes fusion and consist a supermassive Black Hole ?!

i'm leaning towards sustainable and renewable energy sources, upon seeing the Ironman film of Jean Favreau, i come to theory that maybe the arc reactor that Stark industries manufactured and designed is quite feasible through cold fusion reaction... is it possible? if it is, please provide any...

Hello fellow scientists, Do all stars rely on quantum tunneling for fusion or do high mass stars break the Coulomb barrier without tunneling? Thanks

Homework Statement Calculate the minimum Lawson parameter for sustained deuterium-deuterium fusion in a plasma with an energy of 10 keV. Homework Equations The Lawson parameter is given as $$ n \tau > \frac{12 k T}{<\sigma v> Q} $$ where \sigma is the fusion cross-section. The Attempt at a...

This excerpt is from "The Universe and the Atom" by Don Lichtenburg: I was under the impression that photons made in the nuclear fusion bounced off of particles for a long time, before they inexplicably were able to escape from the sun. Why does the sun absorb the most energetic photons...

Homework Statement A Sun-like star may convert some carbon 12C (nuclear mass 1.998 ×10-26 kg) to oxygen 16O (nuclear mass 2.657 ×10-26 kg) towards the end of its life. Approximately how much energy is released per fusion reaction? Homework Equations e=mc2 c+he = o + energy The...

- possible sun timeline - 3,130,000 years for molecular gas to condense into protostar - 40,000,000 for core to condense and heat up to 15 million K - 43,130,000 total - sun has only enough matter to 'burn' by gravitational pressure for 100/300 million yrs - first stage of...

Nuclear power plant which use of fission process have been made but why not fusion power plants, what affect its feasibility ??

Author: Francis F. Chen Title: Introduction to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1441932011/?tag=pfamazon01-20 Prerequisities: Introductory physics, modern physics, calculus through PDEs, E&M Contents: Undergraduate, upper level; Graduate...

If we tried to make elements higher than Helium in a terrestrial fusion reactor, what elements could we realistically make? If I've understood it correctly the triple alpha process reaction rates would be irrelevant due to the considerably lower pressure * time product. But how would Be...

Hello, I wanted to know if it was possible to create a machine that can convert elements to those of your choosing? The most likely canadidate(and only canidate) is transmutation by fusion or fission. I know this is a physics forum but this stuff is covered in physics and you guys are pretty...

Part 1----------------------------------------- Ok, the site I have just read through is http://burro.astr.cwru.edu/stu/stars_lifedeath.html one. I have a few questions about it. Firstly, about the fusion of helium into hydrogen... http://burro.astr.cwru.edu/stu/media/fusion.jpg It...

Hey guys. I've recently developed an intense interest in nuclear fusion, and I was wondering what sort of majors would be relevant/helpful to a facility conducting research in that area (like ITER in France). I'm a freshman at Johns Hopkins U, and unfortunately there isn't a major in Nuclear...

Sonofusion, Cold Fusion, Crossfire, IEC, MC, you name it. I'm a young scholar interested in the various kinds of fusion and where they stand in terms of validity, possibility, practicality, etc. I'm mostly curious on what people think of the kinds of fusion out there and what science has...

Magnetic fusion is controlling plasma while its undergoing fusion. Right? Well if plasma is neutral, how can the magnetic fields affect it?

I have always been wondering how in an active star the H/He fusion cycle is "managed" for lack of a better word, a little like a logistical analogy really. Specifically: i) Where in the star is the yet-to-be-fused H 'stored'? ii) Where in the star is the He result of fusion 'stored'...

Is there such thing as plasma fusion if so how does it work?

How much mass is lost in a single D + T= 4He fusion reaction? And is all of the mass lost converted to energy or just some? The mass lost can be converted to energy using e=mc2.

Hello there, I'm a beginner at ROS and I've some questions regarding multisensor fusion. I am currently working on a robot (Pioneer P3-AT) with a monocular vision and Hokuyo LRF without an a priori map. However, I am unclear about how to apply the proposed algorithms like EKF, Bayesian, etc...

My latest thoughts about the life, universe and everything has brought me to this scenario: [in a stars core, but a perfect thought situation, for the sake of illustration] there is a proton, electron and proton on one line in this particular sequence. I think, that the electron, witch has...

Homework Statement Hi, I am answering Question #3, and using the formula and variables above scratch area as reference on how to answer the question. Could someone please have a look and see if the problem I worked out came out correct. Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution First I...