Fusion PDF

### Fusion Heat the centre to almost 15 million °C. At these enormous temperatures, electrons have too much energy to stay bound to the protons, the material turns to plasma; a state of matter consisting of positively charged ions and free electrons. Protons are positive so they repel each other,...

### Fusion Heat the centre to almost 15 million °C. At these enormous temperatures, electrons have too much energy to stay bound to the protons, the material turns to plasma; a state of matter consisting of positively charged ions and free electrons. Protons are positive so they repel each other, but the massive gravitational force brings individual protons close enough to fuse together into a new nucleus. During fusion, one of the protons converted into a neutron and two tiny particles are released; a small positively charged particle called a positron and a tiny, neutral particle called a neutrino. A positron is identical to an electron except it has a positive charge. The positron doesn’t stay for long as it is attracted to any electrons in the plasma, when a positron collides with an electron they it destroys itself and become two high energy gamma rays. The new nucleus formed in this fusion reaction consists of a proton and a neutron. This is still the nuclei of a hydrogen atom, but is an isotope of hydrogen known as deuterium. The deuterium can undergo further fusion reactions. The overall result of all these reactions is that hydrogen is converted into helium, neutrinos and energy.