What type of energy released during nuclear fusion?

Answer 1

Nuclear fusion is how the stars including our sun obtain their energy, where the results of the fusion are contained in the star's material and appear as thermal energy.

In proposed fusion reactors on earth, a hot plasma containing atoms of deuterium and tritium (both isotopes of hydrogen) is confined in a magnetic field and made to react by heating. The idea is that by feeding in these components a power reaction would be made to be continuous. So far experimental rigs have made fusion happen but only for short times, less than 1 second. A larger experiment called ITER is planned, but it will still only be to demonstrate fusion, not to extract power.

From the reaction D + T, most of the output energy will appear as energetic neutrons, and there will also be radiated heat from the plasma itself. Somehow the energy of the neutrons has to be captured, and this is likely to be as difficult to solve as the plasma reaction itself. Some material will be required which can absorb the neutrons, resulting in thermal heating, which can then be transferred to a steam cycle for power production. When one realises that this material will have to stand up to neutron bombardment for the life of the plant, it becomes apparent that this will be a big problem.

My own feeling is that nobody alive today is likely to see fusion in operation as a power source.

Answer 2

In a plasma type fusion reactor such as a Tokamak, most of the released energy appears as kinetic energy of the neutrons produced in the nuclear fusion process. Clearly some way has to be found to absorb this kinetic energy and so produce thermal energy. Ideas seem to be to surround the reaction chamber with some material which would do this, but a problem might be to find the right material that will withstand neutron bombardment for the plant's life. At present and up to now the scientific effort has been just to get the plasma hot enough to cause fusion, and only very short bursts of fusion have been achieved, but the engineering of a realistic power plant is another matter, to be developed.

Answer 3

The energy given off in a nuclear fusion reaction is the same energy that is given off in a nuclear fission reaction - the release of excess nuclear force1.

This force holds atomic nuclei together, i.e. the protons and neutrons. It even overcomes the electromagnetic force that would tend to push protons away from each other.

When you fuse two light nuclei together, the result has less nuclear force than the original components. That force has to go someplace. Most of it is released as energy - heat and radiation.

The same mechanism holds true for fission. When you split a heavy nucleus apart, the nuclear force of the result is less than that of the original.

All of this can be described as a mass to energy equivalence. Einstein's famous equation e = mc2 states that energy is equivalent to mass times the speed of light squared. Since the speed of light squared is a very large number, 9 x 1016, this means that a very small change in mass in equivalent to a very large amount of energy or, conversely, a very large amount of energy is equivalent to a small amount of mass.

Well, in both nuclear fusion and nuclear fission, the products of the reaction have less mass than the original components. This mass change is equivalent to energy.

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1Nuclear force is the residual binding energy left over from binding energy, or the strong atomic force. The strong atomic force holds quarks together to form protons and neutrons, and is about 100 times stronger than the electromagnetic force, hence its ability to overcome the repulsion of like charged particles. The residual binding energy, then, holds protons and neutrons together in the nucleus.

Answer 4

Nuclear energy from fusion occurs when two nuclei join together to make a different nucleus, and energy is released because the new nucleus is slightly lighter than the two original ones together. Thus mass has been destroyed and energy released

Answer 5

The energy released during nuclear fusion is the differential binding energy required to sustain the newly fused atom together, compared to the binding energies of its parent atoms. Energy is released only if the parent atoms are lighter than iron-56, due to the binding energy curve. That is why fusion most nearly always takes place between atoms of hydrogen. The energy released is heat as radiation, gamma rays, neutrons, etc.

Answer 6

During nuclear fusion, energy is released in the form of electromagnetic radiation, such as gamma rays and X-rays, as well as kinetic energy of the particles involved in the reaction. This energy is a result of the conversion of a small amount of mass into energy as described by Einstein's famous equation, E=mc^2.

Answer 7

Fusion, like fission, produces its energy mostly in the form of heat. Since this applies to atoms, it can also be seen as kinetic energy.

Answer 8

It is nuclear energy that manifests itself as thermal energy, mechanical energy, and/or electrical energy.

Answer 9

nuclear