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Is Nuclear Fusion Hotter Than the Sun?

Newsweek, BY JESS THOMSON ON 1/6/23

uclear fusion has been the talk of the town lately because of some milestone breakthroughs bringing us closer to a world with the possibility of infinite free energy.

Nuclear fusion is the process by which two atoms collide and fuse, forming another element. The process requires temperatures of up to 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million Celsius). To put that into perspective, the surface of the sun is 9,941 degrees F. The core temperature of the sun is also around 27 million degrees F, while the corona, the outer part, is 2 million degrees Fahrenheit.

Nuclear fusion is most commonly seen when hydrogen atoms combine to form a helium atom, but it is also possible for a number of other periodic elements. During this fusion reaction, huge amounts of energy are released, and this process powers the sun and other stars.

However, for the reaction to occur in the first place, large amounts of energy are needed inside the system to get the atoms to collide. This essentially means that it needs to be very, very hot.

“In the fusion experiment at the National Ignition Facility [NIF], it was reported that it reached 3 million Celsius [5.4 million F],” Carolyn Kuranz, a director of the University of Michigan’s Center for Laboratory Astrophysics and a professor of nuclear engineering and radiological sciences and applied physics, told Newsweek.

Other nuclear fusion experiments have achieved temperatures of up to more than 100 million Kelvin, or 180 million F. Most fusion occurs at the sun’s core (27 million degrees F)………………………………………………………………. https://www.newsweek.com/nuclear-fusion-temperature-core-sun-1771949

January 7, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized