Fire and Fusion
For a fire, you have a hydrocarbon (like wood, or methane, or propane) and oxygen... you bring them together with some energy, and the oxygen will nab those hydrogens off of the carbon, and you end up with H2O and CO2, and the process releases energy.
For nuclear fusion, when you compress two hydrogen nuclei together, they will combine into a helium nucleus, and release energy.
The difference is the cause of the energy difference - fire works through chemical interaction. The electrons/protons in atoms attract and repel each other, so the energy comes from an electrical interaction. For the nuclear reaction, the cause is the nuclear force (the binding force which holds the atomic nucleus together).
The nuclear force is a million times stronger than electricity
Artist/Author: ai January 29, 2024 |
