What are the atoms of fusion?

Answer 1

It's not atoms that are involved in nuclear fusion, rather, as the name implies, it's nuclei that are involved. Therefore it's easier to talk about what nuclear isotopes are involved in fusion. Well, with enough energy supplied, they all could be, but I bet you mean exothermic fusion reactions (release energy), in which case the isotopes involved have an atomic number of around 26 (iron) or lower.

On a subatomic level, the explanation can get complicated. Basically, though, as one isotope gets closer and closer to another, they become more and more electromagnetically repelled, since nuclei only consist of protons (charge +1) and neutrons (charge 0). However, there is a distance, known as the "Coulomb barrier," where the force of electromagnetic repulsion gets overtaken by the strong nuclear force, and the two recently separate isotopes bind together. Breaking this barrier can take quite a bit of energy though.

Ultimately then, the main particle involved in nuclear fusion is the gluon, since it mediates the strong nuclear force.

Answer 2

In experiments so far, and in any planned future prototype plant, deuterium and tritium are used. That is, two isotopes of hydrogen. Deuterium has one proton and one neutron in the nucleus, and tritium has one proton and two neutrons. When the fusion reaction takes place helium is formed, with two protons and two neutrons.

Other reactions are being considered that involve the light isotope of helium (32He). In one case, two of these combine to produce one alpha particle (full 42He helium nucleus, too hot to have electrons), two free protons, and 12.86 MeV of energy. This isotope can also combine with deuterium to form an alpha particle, proton, and 14.7 MeV. Sometimes the sun throws helium into the solar wind. About 1 in every 10,000 of these are 32He. One proposal is that moon mining operations can sift through helium atoms lying in the regolith, and separate out the light helium isotope for use in a proton-proton chain reactor on the moon, or sent back to earth to be combined with deuterium, which can be had from heavy hydrogen atoms that sometimes wind up in water molecules in the ocean.

Answer 3

Hydrogen

Etc.

Hydrogen - hydrogen fusion to produce helium is the primary fusion reaction that drives the stars, but more generally it's the combination of atoms of one element to produce another, but the heavier the elements, the greater the power needed to induce fusion.

Answer 4

There are a number of possibilities for the "fuel" from which fusion can operate.

Several of them occur inside stars of different ages, stages, and composition.

The simplest one ... the one that requires the least temperature and pressure in order

to proceed, the one that's by far most common inside stars, and the only one that's

been created in Earth-bound laboratories ... is the fusion of hydrogen nuclei to produce

nuclei of helium.

Answer 5

Our sun is only capable of fusing hydrogen isotopes, producing helium. It is not capable of producing the temperatures and pressures needed to fuse helium (or any heavier element).

In roughly 6 billion years when the sun runs out of hydrogen to fuse, its core will collapse producing the temperatures and pressures needed to ignite helium fusion, producing carbon. The rise in core temperature will cause the outer layers to expand transforming the sun into a red giant. As the sun expands it will swallow Mercury, venus, and earth.

When the sun runs out of helium to fuse it will collapse to a tiny white dwarf and begin cooling as it has no source of energy left to keep it hot.

Answer 6

During nuclear fusion the nuclei of the atoms collide and bind together. Excess energy and/or particles are often released from the new heavier nucleus as a consequence of laws governing the nuclear binding force.

Answer 7

All of them... if the temperature is hot enough... starting with hydrogen, and ending with osmium.

Answer 8

These are hydrogen and helium.