48 seconds. I predict a glut of helium. balloons for everyone

  • JackFrostNCola@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Sorry im not any sort of scientist here but i thought energy could not be created or destroyed so to get a net-positive energy out we would need to keep feeding in fuel, is this correct?
    And if so, how?

    • Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip
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      6 months ago

      energy is not created nor destroyed, however something can change forms, which gives off energy.

      how stars work in fusion is that their high pressure and high temperatures allow for the fusion of particles. hydrogren (1 protonl fuses with another to produce helium (2 protons). in a stars life, that cycle continues. elements fuse till it hits iron (the end point of fusion). which then a stars life.is considered dead and eventually black hole stuff starts to happen due to density of star.

      the power is actually not “infinite” its limited by the fuel supply available (hydrogren), but the net energy in to energy out is positive if the fuel source exists.

      • JackFrostNCola@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Yes but how do you keep feeding this kind of reaction? I imagine you cant just drop more fuel ‘down a tube’. Do they shut down the reactor and then restart it with fresh material?

    • ji17br@lemmy.ml
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      6 months ago

      I’m not an expert but I believe the fuel is hydrogen. Hydrogen atoms fuse together to produce helium + energy