Nuclear Fusion

Nuclear Fusion occurs when two lightwight nuclei fuse (combine) and form a nucleus of a heavier element. The products of the fusion weigh less than the combined weights of the original nuclei. The lost matter has been converted into energy.

Fusion reactions that produce large amounts of energy can only be created by means of extremely intense heat. Such reactions are called thermonuclear reactions. Thermonuclear reactions produce the energy of both the sun and the hydrogen bomb.

A thermonuclear reaction can occur only in a special form of matter called plasma. Plasma is a gas made up of free electrons and free nuclei. Normally, nuclei repel one another. But if a plasma containing lightweight atomic nuclei is heated many millions of degrees, the nuclei begin moving so fast that they break through one another's electrical barriers and fuse.

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FISSION