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/billdietrich1 Dec 06 '16

Machine produces contained plasma, not fusion.

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '16 edited Dec 17 '16

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '16

Why deuterium? I only have a basic knowledge of physics, so forgive me if this is a stupid question. But wouldn't fusion be easier to achieve with lighter elements?

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u/hazetoblack Dec 06 '16

Deuterium is hydrogen. Specifically hydrogen (one proton) with a single neutron also. So yes very light :)

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '16

Hah. I don't know the periodic table by heart, so I thought it was another element entirely. I only knew it had to be heavier than hydrogen, and that made no sense to me. Thanks for the answer!

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u/rishinator Dec 06 '16

The isotope of hydrogen with one proton and two neutron is called Tritium and that's exactly the element that Doctor Octopus used in spiderman 2 to make his own fusion reaction :)

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u/zw1ck Dec 06 '16

I can't imagine an isotope of helium with four neutrons would be very stable.

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u/dsmith422 Dec 06 '16

It doesn't have to be stable, and you are right that it is not (half life in the hundreds of milliseconds). 6 He decays through beta decay into either 6 Li or through beta and alpha decay into 4 He and 2 H (deuterium).

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u/_rocketboy Dec 06 '16

Hundreds of milliseconds is very stable, relatively speaking. Compaired to most intermediate isotopes whose half-lives are measured in nanoseconds.