Sunday, August 18, 2019
Unizor - Physics4Teens - Energy - Energy of Nucleus - Fusion
Notes to a video lecture on http://www.unizor.com
Fusion is a nuclear reaction, when light nuclei are brought together and combined into a heavier ones.
The reason for this reaction to release the energy is the difference
between amount of energy needed to overcome the repulsion between nuclei
because they have the same positive electric charge (this energy is
consumed by fusion) and the potential energy released by strong forces, when the formation of a combined nucleus occurs (this energy is released by fusion).
The former is less than the latter.
When the light nuclei are fused into a heavier one, the excess of potential energy of strong forces, released in the process of fusion,
over the energy needed to squeeze together protons against their
repulsion is converted into thermal and electromagnetic field energy.
Analogy to this process can be two magnets separated by a spring.
The magnets represent two separate protons, the magnetic force of attraction between them represents the strong force
that is supposed to hold the nucleus together, when these particles are
close to each other, the spring represents the electrical repulsive
force between them, acting on a larger distance, as both are positively
It's known that magnetic force is inversely proportional to a square of a
distance between objects, while the resistance of a spring against
contraction obeys the Hooke's Law and is proportional to the length of
On the picture magnets are separated. To bring them together, we have to
spend certain amount of energy to move against a spring that resists
contraction. But the magnetic attraction grows faster then the
resistance of the spring, so, at some moment this attraction will be
greater than the resistance of a spring. At this moment nothing would
prevent magnets to fuse.
As is in the above analogy, if we want to fuse two protons, we have to bring them together sufficiently close for strong forces to overtake the repulsion of their positive charges.
Consider the following nuclear reaction of fusion.
One nucleus of hydrogen isotope deuterium 1H2 with atomic mass 2 contains one proton and one neutron.
One nucleus of hydrogen isotope tritium 1H3 with atomic mass 3 contains one proton and two neutrons.
If we force these two nuclei to fuse, they will form a nucleus of helium 2He4 and releasing certain amount of energy:
1H2 + 1H3 = 2He4 + 0n1
It's not easy to overcome the repulsion of protons. High temperature and
pressure, like in the core of our Sun, are conditions where it happens.
On Earth these conditions are created in the nuclear bomb, using the
atomic bomd to achieve proper amount of heat and pressure, thus creating
an uncontrlled fusion.
Controlled nuclear reaction of fusion is what scientists are working on right now. So far, it's still in the experimental stage.