fusion the energy of the universe

[...]... this book we present the complete story of fusion, starting with the development of the basic scientific ideas that led to the understanding of the role of fusion in the Sun and stars We explain the processes of hydrogen burning in the Sun and the production of heavier elements in stars and supernovae The development of fusion as a source of energy on Earth by both the magnetic and inertial xvii xviii... associated with the forces that hold the nucleus together These data are usually plotted in the form of a graph of the energy equivalent of the mass defect plotted against the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus (the atomic mass) A modern version of this plot is shown in Fig 2.5 While there are some irregularities in the curve at the left-hand side, for the lightest isotopes, most of the curve... Use Fusion Energy? When fusion was identified as the energy source of the Sun and the stars, it was natural to ask whether the process of turning mass into energy could be demonstrated on Earth and, if so, whether it could be put to use for man’s benefit Ernest Rutherford, the famous physicist and discoverer of the structure of the atom, made this infamous statement to the British Association for the. .. right angles to the direction of the field and to the direction of the ion The magnetic field provides the centripetal force on the ions, forcing them to follow a circular path whose radius is given by the equation mv 2 /r = Bev Because all the ions have the same energy, the radius r of their circular path depends on their mass-to-charge ratio The ions are thus dispersed spatially, rather as light is... demonstrated that the uranium atom could be split by bombarding uranium with neutrons, with the release of a large amount of energy This was fission The story of the development of the fission chain reaction, fission reactors, and the atom bomb has been recounted many times The development of the hydrogen bomb and the quest for fusion energy proved to be more difficult There is a good reason for this The uranium... is another form of energy and that energy equals mass multiplied by the velocity of light squared Although it took a long time to get experimental proof of this entirely theoretical prediction, we now know that it was one of the most significant advances ever made in science 2.2 Building Blocks To see how Einstein’s theory led to the concept of fusion energy we need to go back to the middle of the 19th... before their very eyes, in the Sun and in all the stars of their night sky The processes in the Sun and stars, especially the energy source that had sustained their enormous output for eons, had long baffled scientists Only in the early 20th century was it realized that nuclear fusion is the energy source that runs the universe and that simultaneously it is the mechanism responsible for creating all the. .. number of electrons, so an atom is overall electrically neutral All isotopes of the same element have the same number of protons and the same number of electrons, so their chemical properties are identical The number of neutrons can vary For example, chlorine always has 17 protons, but one isotope has 18 neutrons and the other has 20 Likewise the nucleus of the most common isotope of hydrogen consists of. .. Missing The most surprising result from Aston’s work was that the masses of individual isotopes are not exactly multiples of the mass of the most common isotope of hydrogen; they are consistently very slightly lighter than expected Aston had defined his own scale of atomic mass by assigning a value of precisely 4 to helium On this scale, the mass of the light isotope of hydrogen is 1.008, so the mass of. .. encourage the nonscientist to bypass them — the main text contains all that is needed to understand the story of fusion We have tried to present the excitement of the scientific discoveries and to include brief portraits of some of the famous scientists who have been involved November 2004 Acknowledgments In the course of writing this book we have drawn on the vast volume of published material relating to fusion . Materials 141 12 Why We Need Fusion Energy 145 12.1 World Energy Needs 145 12.2 The Choice of Fuels 146 12.3 The Environmental Impact of Fusion Energy 150 12.4 The Cost of Fusion Energy 152 Epilogue 155 Units. complete story of fusion, starting with the devel- opment of the basic scientific ideas that led to the understanding of the role of fusion in the Sun and stars. We explain the processes of hydrogen. Nuclear Fusion? 1 1.1 The Alchemists’ Dream 1 1.2 The Sun’s Energy 2 1.3 Can We Use Fusion Energy? 3 1.4 Man-Made Suns 3 1.5 The Rest of the Story 4 2 Energy from Mass 7 2.1 Einstein’s Theory