give the name of Nuclear fusionto the process of combining two atomic nuclei to form a heavier third element. At the time of the formation of the new element, energy is released.
occurrence of nuclear fusion
At nuclear mergers do not occur naturally here on Earth. To clash two equal elements and create a fusion, it takes an enormous amount of energy to overcome the electrostatic repulsion force between the elements. This repulsion force is called Coulomb barrier. in many stars in the universe, like the Sun, this process occurs naturally. The light and heat from the star result from the fusion of hydrogen atoms, which produces helium atoms and energy (light + heat).
The mass of the Helium atom is actually greater than the sum of the masses of the hydrogens that make it up, but it is not exactly double. The account does not match because a certain amount of matter at the time of fusion is converted into energy. This transformation was predicted by the physicist Albert Einstein in your famous equation E = m.c2.
The nuclear fusion process can be reproduced in the laboratory, but not yet in a way that generates a considerable amount of energy.
nuclear fusion reactors
Any physical system where you can control a Nuclear fusion it's called nuclear fusion reactor or thermonuclear reactor. The (clean) energy generated in these reactors can be converted into electrical energy and supply millions of people infinitely more effective than the methods used today, but this is still a distant reality due to the difficulties in generating the mergers.
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The reactor works basically the same way as the Sun, colliding hydrogen atoms and generating helium atoms. The difficulty is in generating enough energy for the Coulomb barrier to be overcome and the fusion to take place. For this, the temperatures to which the system must be raised can exceed 99 million °C!
In October 2015, the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) reactor was completed after nearly two decades of construction. This reactor is in the city of Greifswald, Germany, and is a hope for the production of energy from nuclear fusion.
Curiosities
The first thermonuclear reaction took place in November 1952, in the United States. On that occasion a hydrogen bomb (nuclear bomb based on the fusion of hydrogen) released an energy equivalent to 10 million tons of TNT. The image below shows the shock wave produced by this bomb, which became known as the “bomb-tsar”.
In 1961, the Soviet government, during a test event, fired a hydrogen bomb with the power of 50 million tons of TNT, 3,000 times more powerful than the hydrogen bombs. nuclear fission which reached Hiroshima in 1945.
By Joab Silas
Graduated in Physics
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
JUNIOR, Joab Silas da Silva. "What is nuclear fusion?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/o-que-e/fisica/o-que-e-fusao-nuclear.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.