What is Fusion?[ Front page ] [ Bibliography ] [ Previous ] [ Next ]Nuclear fusion occurs when two atomic nuclei collide with enough energy to bind together to form one nucleus. Nuclear fusion occurs in the core of our sun, and is the source of its tremendous heat. In the sun hydrogen nuclei, single protons, fuse together and form a new nucleus. In the conversion, a small amount of mass is converted into energy. It is this energy that heats the sun. For nuclear fusion to occur, nuclei must have very high kinetic energies that will exceed the electrostatic repulsion between the nuclei. The extremely high temperature of the sun causes electrons to be stripped off the atoms, leaving only the nuclei. This state of matter is called a plasma, and is sometimes referred to as the fourth state of matter. Unlike solids, liquids, and gasses, plasmas have no electrons surrounding the nuclei of its atoms. |