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Is fusion a possibility?
Well, as you can see, we have finally tapped into the concepts of using atomic interactions to produce massive amounts of energy, via fission. I've learned about that plenty, but, is it possible to unlock the same potential by the fusion of two light nuclei, while having the same, if not better, effects of nuclear fission?
5 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
Yes. It's called "nuclear fusion", and in explosive form, it's been around for slightly less time than its "nuclear fission" counterpart. The best-known leveraging of nuclear fusion is the hydrogen bomb, or H-bomb for short.
The energy per unit mass of an H-bomb is much greater than that of an atomic bomb (or A-bomb): while most yields for A-bombs are quoted in the tens of kilotons, H-bombs are commonly quoted in megatons. Their damage is so potentially devastating that when the USA used to test them in the old days, they'd have to be buried deep underground to contain the detonation.
Now there is a second application of both fission and fusion, the generation of energy for electric power. Nuclear power plants (fission) have been around for decades, but harnessing fusion the same way has been a much tougher nut to crack, and it has been relegated primarily to academic circles now for about fifty years. After all that time, scientists are not a whole lot closer to controlling fusion than they were when they first started, but they keep on trying and spending money on it, because succeeding would offer the world a nearly inexhaustible supply of energy, at least relative to the rate at which we presently consume it.
Good luck, work hard, and stay away from drugs.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
As of now, it is impossible because of 2 main reasons:
1) It is impossible to heat the hydrogen to the plasma stage where it will become completely ionized and undergo fusion.
2) No container can contain plasma because of its extremely extremely high temperature.
With that being said, fusion is being tested right now. Since the 80's i think, the US and the Soviet Union (now Russia) have been testing with the TOKAMAK reactor, which uses extremely high magnetic fields to suspend the charged plasma. However a solution still needs to be found with the 1st problem. The soviets were the first to breach one barrier of the temperature problem by breaking the 1000eV mark, which is only 1/10 of the 10keV required for fusion. But if sufficient progress is made i believe fusion is possible in the future.
Source(s): this website can help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokomak - Anonymous1 decade ago
It takes so much energy to fuse atomic nuclei together that they can't make it work like fission, which is automatic once critical mass is approached. Cold fusion is Bologna.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
Of course fusion is a possibility!
That's what makes the sun run!
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