I don’t know whether I’m right or wrong, but my argument is that, When hydrogen is converted into helium during fusion, a large amount of energy is produced roughly of order of 18Mega eV(At least that’s what I was taught). And quick google search for binding energy per nucleon for Helium was in the neighborhood of 7ish Mega eV. So is it possible for the Helium atoms formed to revert back to hydrogen or get disintegrated completely. Or am I missing some key details(Forces, energy) which holds the atom from disintegrating. What makes me feel that I’m wrong is if that happens, it will be like a perpetual motion machine. Won’t the reaction has endless fuel and won’t the reaction becomes virtually impossible to stop? Also won’t it break the laws of thermodynamics? Anyways my sincere apologies if I’m talking gibberish, I’m just a high school student preparing for a college entrance exam in India, so I’m kinda noob in this thing.
2
-
1$\begingroup$ So is it possible for the Helium atoms formed to revert back to hydrogen or get disintegrated completely. How does this follow from what you wrote earlier? $\endgroup$– AllureFeb 7, 2022 at 2:28
-
1$\begingroup$ From physics.stackexchange.com/a/531149/123208 "Binding energy is negative. You have to give the nucleons energy to unbind the nucleus". $\endgroup$– PM 2RingFeb 7, 2022 at 4:24
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
So is it possible for the Helium atoms formed to revert back to hydrogen or get disintegrated completely
You just mention that the H -> He reaction releases energy. This means you would need to supply that energy to drive the process in reverse. The separation of a proton or a $\text{H}_2$ nucleus from a helium nucleus cannot happen spontaneously.
In this reaction the hydrogen is the fuel and the helium is the "ash".
