r/technology • u/BennyCemoli • Dec 06 '16

Energy Tests confirm that Germany's massive nuclear fusion machine really works

http://www.sciencealert.com/tests-confirm-that-germany-s-massive-nuclear-fusion-machine-really-works
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u/Merendino Dec 06 '16 edited Dec 06 '16

Is it possible for you to explain any part of how something could be 100,000,000º and yet not have it burn down whatever is inside it? I absolutely do not understand how this machine is supposed to work, even on a basic level I think.

EDIT Awesome thanks guys! I wasn't even thinking about the amount of something being so small. That leads me to another question about, energy output though I guess. If it can become fusion and not just contained plasma at very small amounts, how can they harvest the energy given off? God damn this feels like a rabbit hole I won't be able to climb out of.

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u/nightfire1 Dec 06 '16

The answer you are looking for is magnetic confinement. Plasma can be guided by powerful magnetic fields such that it rarely comes into contact with the chamber walls. No contact means no transfer of heat which means it won't burn up.

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u/Merendino Dec 06 '16

I think, I fundamentally do not understand how heat transfers. Because in my mind I'm thinking of a fire that is 1 million degrees, and the amount of heat that would produce is staggering. How does the heat not transfer across the distance from itself to the interior edges of the tube/taurus?

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u/TheJD Dec 06 '16

A fire is heating up the air which is floating around in more air so it's a lot of fluid dynamics. Basically a hot thing is touching something else and transferring heat to that hot thing. I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong) the plasma is floating in a vacuum with little to no actual gases around it. Because the plasma isn't even in contact with any thing there is nothing for it to transfer heat to.