The opposite of nuclear fission
Nuclear fission has been an important issue around the world since the 1940s. It is used in many industrialized countries to generate large amounts of energy in nuclear power plants. Also, when used in atomic bombs, it kept the world in suspense during the Cold War. However, enormous energy reserves lurk not only in nuclear fission, but also in its opposite, nuclear fusion. This has an even greater energetic potential. But how does it work?
This is how nuclear fusion works
- As you will probably remember from your school physics class, atomic nuclei are positively charged. So actually two such cores would repel each other. This is also the case in everyday life. However, it is conceivable to bring two atomic nuclei so close to one another by using a large amount of energy that they are more than 10-15m approach each other. If this is the case, there is no more repulsion, but the opposite of it: the nuclei are drawn into one another. This is due to the strong nuclear force, which, although it has a very short range, is the strongest of the four basic forces of the physics is.
- In nature, nuclear fusion can mainly be observed in stars. Here is the effect of gravity exerted by the extremely large accumulations of matter that eventually pulls the nuclei into one another. As described below, a large amount of energy free. It is to this energy that we owe our existence.
In contrast to nuclear fission, there is a lot of energy dormant
- In the most common stellar nuclear fusion, four hydrogen nuclei fuse to form one helium nucleus. However, if you compare the initial mass with the mass of the final product, you will find that one helium nucleus is lighter than four hydrogen nuclei. According to Einstein's theory of relativity, the lost mass must be compensated for by converting it into energy. This is exactly what happens, which is why stars shine like our sun.
- A lot of energy is released above all when light elementary particles fuse with one another, above a certain level Weight (namely that of the element iron), the amount of energy to be expended is greater than the amount of energy released Energy. For this reason, the fusion process in stars stops with iron.
- Although nuclear fusion in combination with its opposite of nuclear fission in weapons technologies, such as the Hydrogen bomb, which is used, has so far not been able to be used in an energy-efficient manner instrumentalize. If this succeeds at some point, mankind would be rid of its energy problems, because hydrogen is sufficient in the world present and thus also almost endless energy and that, unlike in nuclear fission, without the release of Radioactivity.
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