The fusion tag has no wiki summary.
1
vote
2answers
89 views
Under what conditions is a pure fusion nuclear bomb possible?
Is it possible to build a pure fusion and powerful nuclear bomb?
(because due to the harsh conditions of enriched uranium, I would guess most of today's world countries will want to build pure fusion ...
2
votes
1answer
26 views
Fusion vs. Fission
I understand why fission generates large amounts of energy when the nucleus is split, but then why does fusion generate such large amounts of energy. If fission releases energy when some mass is lost ...
6
votes
2answers
535 views
How do you build a nuclear reactor in your garage?
When I came across this link earlier today, I was astounded. Nuclear reactors are immensely complex devices that took scientists years to develop, and are usually housed in huge facilities. The link ...
0
votes
1answer
43 views
Can you fuse Anti-matter atoms?
I know that this is a simple question, but I could not for the life of me find a source that explains fusion for Anti-matter atoms. intuitively, I can say that there shouldn't be any barrier for ...
1
vote
3answers
457 views
Lightning and nuclear fusion
I'm going to be brief, I just saw a Discovery Channel show that showed a lot of interesting phenomena around lightning (like elves, how cool is that(!)), and got me wondering.
1) Thinking of ...
1
vote
2answers
40 views
Theoretic Mass Energy Conversion?
say you had a large quantity of a heavy element such as uranium... AND you put a massive amount of energy into it, so that it began to undergo nuclear fission and transformed to a significantly ...
5
votes
1answer
103 views
Can open, unsafe nuclear fusion reaction burn the atmosphere?
I happened to hear people saying that the nuclear fusion bomb tests could set the atmosphere on fire. I have some serious doubts about that - but I have no facts.
Nuclear fusion reaction requires ...
6
votes
2answers
109 views
Why is Helium-3 better than Deuterium
I see that many websites and magazines with physics thematic are pretty excited about mining Helium 3 isotope on the Moon. But this seems to be a very hard-to-get resource. For more than one reason:
...
1
vote
1answer
90 views
What is the lowest possible theoretical temperature that nuclear fusion can occur at?
I am not talking about the pseudo-science of so called cold fusion I am interested in what temperature you can get away with to produce fusion reaction. I was thinking in terms of micro-fusion or at ...
2
votes
5answers
498 views
Why doesn't fusion contradict the 1st law of thermodynamics?
I was reading up on the 1st law of thermodynamics for my Chemistry exam and I was wondering why doesn't fusion contradict the 1st law of thermodynamics?
The 1st law states that
The energy of an ...
3
votes
0answers
31 views
What is the difference between the KDEMO and DEMO projects?
I'm writing a paper on the future of fusion technology and I can't seem to find the difference between Europe's DEMO experiment and Korea's KDEMO except for the fact that they are both planned to ...
2
votes
0answers
47 views
Calculating the minimum Lawson parameter for sustained d-d fusion
Calculate the minimum Lawson parameter for sustained deuterium-deuterium fusion in a plasma with an energy of 10 keV.
I have been given the above question as part of a homework assignment and help ...
7
votes
3answers
505 views
Why doesn't helium start to fuse while there is still hydrogen fuel?
In all the descriptions of the stellar life cycle it seems as though helium doesn't start being fused until all (most?) of the hydrogen is gone.
Is this true? Why is this?
It seems counter ...
3
votes
4answers
313 views
Where does the energy produced by fusion come from?
Fission, in layman's (or "initiate's") terms, is easy enough to understand; a large atom with a lot of protons and neutrons requires a large amount of force provided by the strong interaction to ...
4
votes
2answers
686 views
Origin of elements heavier than Iron (Fe)
In all the discussions about how the heavy elements in the universe are forged in the guts of stars and especially during a stars death, I usually hear that once the star begins fusing lighter atoms ...
1
vote
1answer
81 views
Neutron generators as Fusion reactor
One way of generating neutrons is by fusing D-D or D with T. In neutron generators that work by acceleration D-ions into a solid matrix of e.g. metal and T or D (metal hydrides). Such generators can ...
-2
votes
1answer
90 views
What do we do with the byproducts of Nuclear Fusion? [closed]
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_byproducts_of_nuclear_fusion
So I quickly googled the byproducts of fusion and got the above link.
It looks to me that you'll be left with He atoms. So what ...
2
votes
1answer
113 views
Does magnetic geometry determine the scaling of a Polywell fusor?
Does magnetic geometry determine the scaling of a Polywell fusor?
Forgive imprecise terminology here - by "magnetic geometry" I mean the configuration of the magnets, the configuration that creates ...
1
vote
4answers
430 views
cosmic radiation muons as a source for muon-catalyzed fusion
taking rough numbers from here and here, it seems that with natural cosmic radiation sources, we could sustain $10^6$ muon-catalyzed fusion reactions per square-meter per minute. This would be $14 ...
5
votes
2answers
250 views
What elements can be created in the fusion process of different types of suns?
As I understand it fusion inside a sun can produce heavier and heavier elements until some sort of "nucleus size limit" is reached. As far as I understand, the limit is thought to be reached with the ...
8
votes
3answers
819 views
Nuclear fusion: what causes this “resonance” peak?
Can anyone explain why the $^{11}\mathrm{B}\mathrm{H}$ fusion cross-section has a peak near 150 keV, and why $\mathrm{D}\mathrm{D}$ and $\mathrm{D}\mathrm{T}$ have no such sharp peaks?
7
votes
2answers
232 views
How large can you make a tokamak?
I've seen questions on how small you can make a tokamak. But I haven't yet seen any "physical" upper limit on the tokamak design.
If you take a wind turbine for example, doubling the linear ...
2
votes
1answer
141 views
Is man-made Carbon Fusion possible?
In a type Ia Supernova, the carbon accumulated in the earlier stages of a stars death fissues to create even heavier elements. Could this be used by humans aswell? Is it theoretically possible to ...
0
votes
0answers
85 views
Can we use a warp bubble for nuclear fusion?
I understand NASA is now experimenting with a tweaked Alcubierre drive.
Apperantly some physicists predict crazy heat (hotter than the sun) inside the warp bubble caused by Hawking radiation (recent ...
6
votes
4answers
1k views
What are the challenges to achieving cold fusion?
I am an absolute neophyte regarding physics. What are the challenges to achieving cold fusion?
I'm not sure this is a duplicate of Why is cold fusion considered bogus?, because that question is ...
1
vote
1answer
114 views
Is there a good summary of all nuclear fusion approaches?
I am pretty sure, that during last 60 years of well-funded research a lot of ideas on nuclear fusion were already tried and ruled out.
Is there some summary describing all of them and why they ...
4
votes
2answers
201 views
Could we use particle colliders as fusion generators?
So I know the basic gist is that fusion power's main issue is sustaining the fusion. I also know that there are two methods. The Torus method and the laser method. The torus magnetically contains ...
4
votes
1answer
1k views
How to explain $E=mc^2$ mass defect in fission/fusion
What is the nature of nuclear energy? This is closely related to the correct explanation of mass defect.
I did some research of that topic and cannot come to a single comprehensive and consistent ...
3
votes
0answers
63 views
How fission and fusion create energy? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to explain $E=mc^2$ mass defect in fission/fusion
In order for energy to be released, mass has to be "lost", because mass is a form of energy.
In my science class, ...
1
vote
1answer
196 views
Complete list of nuclear fusion reactions
Could anyone suggest good source of all fusion reactions and their cross section vs energy graphs, including ones which were ruled out for nuclear fusion reactors (i.e. including endothermic and ...
3
votes
1answer
89 views
Could tidal effects make matter hot enough for nuclear fusion?
There was a recent question about cosmological firewalls. Putting aside questions of entanglement and information and looking at the problem from a pure mechanical viewpoint, we know that although ...
7
votes
3answers
350 views
Nuclear fusion : ion vs atom fusion cross section?
I've read critique on ITER project (in Russian), and one of points was that cross section of ion-ion fusion is much lower than ion-atom and atom-atom, and that's the reason why it likely to not work.
...
2
votes
1answer
261 views
“Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons” and all these Farnsworth fusors
I've checked specs of Russian "Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons" module on Mars MSL rover - it can do 10^8 neutron pulses at 10 pulses per second. It works on D-T reaction in tiny linear accelerator, and ...
3
votes
3answers
447 views
Can fusion and fission happen at the same time, in the same place?
Can fusion and fission happen at the same time, in the same place? I was talking with a friend, and he thinks that fission and fusion happen at the same time at the sun, is that true? I guess this ...
5
votes
0answers
188 views
Is there a sound theoretical argument against inner-shell induced nuclear chain reactions?
There is a claim often made about cold fusion, that it is excluded theoretically. The main theoretical argument is that electronic energies are too low to overcome the Coulomb barrier, since d-d ...
1
vote
0answers
83 views
Helium Fusion and the Origin of Elements
In the fifth of his Messenger Lectures Feynman mentions the fact that Carbon-12 has an energy level at 7.82 MeV. He then states that this is what enables the fusion of three Helium-4 ions into Carbon ...
8
votes
5answers
788 views
What new breakthrough energy technologies are close to being realized? [closed]
Energy production is one of the burning issues for humankind. There has been some talk about future energy technologies including Fusion, Anti-matter annihilation and Zero-point-energy (from most to ...
2
votes
1answer
104 views
How is/do they plan on having fusion energy collected at the National Ignition Facility?
I was just watching a program on television showing how the method they use at the National Ignition Facility to attempt to achieve fusion is to fire extremely powerful lasers at a small pellet of ...
1
vote
1answer
187 views
role of pure mathematics in fusion?
Is there any way a pure math guy can get his rigorous math fix while simultaneously moving fusion research forward? Is fusion simply too complicated to take a pure math approach? What open math ...
1
vote
1answer
133 views
Why does a coulomb explosion induce fusion?
If you strip the valence electrons apart with a very short intense electromagnetic field the remaining core explodes in a so called coulomb explosion.
But experiments have shown that under certain ...
4
votes
3answers
618 views
How much of the energy from 1 megaton H Bomb explosion could we capture to do useful work?
The world is full of nuclear warheads being stockpiled. Controlled fusion power seems a long way away. Could we put these warheads to better use by exploding them in a controlled way and capturing ...
3
votes
4answers
330 views
Should we forget fusion and focus on geothermal power? [closed]
Firstly I can say that I would love us to come up with a sustainable fusion solution. However with the latest estimates being 2050 at the earliest for an effective fusion solution and the planets ...
3
votes
2answers
270 views
Proposed Closing of Alcator C-Mod Fusion Tokamak
So I have friends at school who are petitioning against the proposed closing of the tokamak (refer to the recently released FY 2013 Administration Budget). I told said friends that before I signed the ...
2
votes
1answer
184 views
How to initiate fusion explosion without a fission trigger
I'd like to know what theoretical methods for initiating a fusion detonation without a fission trigger exist, and which would be the most practical in the near future. I'd also like to know how small ...
12
votes
2answers
236 views
Hydrogen as a fuel in Sun
The source of Sun's incessant energy is hydrogen; which is continuously converting to helium through nuclear fusion reaction releasing energy. Why does not all hydrogen convert into helium in one big ...
2
votes
2answers
146 views
Proof Human Designs for Fusion Could Work
Are there convincing proofs on paper that fusion is possible the various ways humans are trying to design machines to do it or is the only way absolutely proven to work in theory also the only way ...
1
vote
3answers
756 views
The amount of energy required to break the Coulomb Barrier
This web page says that only 3-10 keV of energy is required to break the Coulomb barrier for colliding hydrogen nuclei.
Pretty far from what originally said.
Is this true? Does this have something ...
2
votes
2answers
743 views
Is the E-cat for real?
Does this thing really do what they say?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhvD4KuAEmo
If it does, it looks like this will probably be the biggest breaktrough in science ever :)
0
votes
0answers
162 views
Is the quantum magnetic field effect real?
Does this http://www.lawrencevilleplasmaphysics.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63&Itemid=81 make sense to you guys? Is there any reason it wouldn't work. It seems like ...
2
votes
1answer
168 views
How does the internuclear repulsion vary in Hydrogenic atom collision?
Hydrogen fusion requires two hydrogen nuclei to get close enough (typically a few fm) to fuse. Much of the problem of creating a fusion reactor is overcoming the Coulomb repulsion between a pair of ...
