fusion

(noun)

A nuclear reaction in which nuclei combine to form more massive nuclei with the concomitant release of energy.

Related Terms

  • warfare
  • nucleosynthesis
  • fission
  • electromagnetic radiation
  • nucleon

Examples of fusion in the following topics:

  • Nuclear Fusion

    • In nuclear fusion two or more atomic nuclei collide at very high speed and join, forming a new nucleus.
    • The fusion of lighter elements in stars releases energy and mass.
    • Research into controlled fusion, with the aim of producing fusion power for the production of electricity, has been conducted for over 60 years.
    • At present, controlled fusion reactions have been unable to produce self-sustaining controlled fusion reactions.
    • Analyze possibility of the use of nuclear fusion for the production of electricity.
  • Conservation of Nucleon Number and Other Laws

    • Through radioactive decay, nuclear fusion and nuclear fission, the number of nucleons (sum of protons and neutrons) is always held constant.
    • Finally, nuclear fusion follows the Law of Conservation of Nucleon Number.
    • Consider the fusion of deuterium and tritium (both hydrogen isotopes):
    • It is well understood that the tremendous amounts of energy released by nuclear fission and fusion can be attributed to the conversion of mass to energy.
    • Thus, the number of nucleons before and after fission and fusion is always constant.
  • Nuclear Weapons

    • A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions—either fission, fusion, or a combination.
    • A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion.
    • The first fusion (i.e., thermonuclear "hydrogen") bomb test released the same amount of energy as approximately 10,000,000 tons of TNT.
  • B.10 Chapter 10

    • If you assume that whenever the deuterons overlap they fuse and that you get to "roll the dice'' once each oscillation period, calculate the fusion rate in both cases.
    • It turns out that the rate-limiting step in muonic fusion is the formation of muonic molecules which takes about one thousand times longer than the fusion, but even this is not the killer.
    • It is the fact that about one percent of the time the muon stays stuck to the fusion product so cannot catalyse another reaction.
    • The first person to consider muon-catalysed fusion was John David Jackson, and Eugene Wigner suggested that "alpha sticking'' could be a problem.
    • This process was the original "cold fusion,'' and it almost breaks even (within a factor of a few).
  • Problems

    • If you assume that whenever the deuterons overlap they fuse and that you get to "roll the dice'' once each oscillation period, calculate the fusion rate in both cases.
  • Nuclear Fission in Reactors

  • Other Forms of Energy

    • Nuclear Energy: This type of energy is liberated during the nuclear reactions of fusion and fission.
  • Gamma Decay

    • Gamma decay from excited states may also follow nuclear reactions such as neutron capture, nuclear fission, or nuclear fusion.
  • Internal Energy

    • Nuclear fusion in the sun converts nuclear potential energy into available internal energy and keeps the temperature of the Sun very high.
  • Phase Changes and Energy Conservation

    • These amounts of energy are the molar heat of vaporization and molar heat of fusion.
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