Module: Mikrowelt: Nonlineare Diffusionsprozesse
Sequence: lev0_start
Branching Point: Energy and Structure Research

Sequence: lev1_fusion
Slide: Nuclear fusion - a low-risk nuclear energy option

Slide: Energy source of the Sun: Fusion of hydrogen into helium

Slide: Plasma - the "forth state of aggregation"

Slide: Sun: Fusion of four Hydrogen atoms

Slide: "Mass defect"

Slide: Nuclear fusion devices: fusion of deuterium and tritium

Branching Point: The way towards the fusion reactor

Sequence: lev2_fusion_history
Slide: "On the question of the possible synthesis of elements in stars" ...

Slide: The first Stellarator

Slide: Harwell 1955 - Startpoint of International Cooperation

Sequence: lev2_fusion_tokamak
Slide: TOKAMAK - functional principle of a legend

Slide: Magnetic confinement and additional heating

Slide: ASDEX Upgrade (Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics)

Slide: Plasma discharge in the ASDEX Upgrade

Slide: Record holder: Joint European Torus (JET, Culham)

Slide: Deuterium-Tritium Fusion Fire in the JET

Slide: Ready on the drawing board: ITER, the first experimental reactor

Slide: ITER - the second-largest research project worldwide

Sequence: lev2_fusion_stellarator
Slide: Stellarator - the elegant alternative

Slide: Assembly of a Wendelstein 7-X segment

Slide: Coil system of the Wendelstein 7-X

Slide: Forerunner and pioneer: Wendelstein 7-AS

Slide: Plasma vessel of the Wendelstein 7-AS

Slide: Plasma discharge in the Wendelstein 7-AS

Sequence: lev1_Xlaser
Slide: From Particle Accelerator to Light Source

Slide: Cavity Acceleration

Slide: Relativistic Length Contraction

Slide: SASE Principle of the Free Electron Laser (FEL)
Switch to Deutsch Switch to English
"Mass defect"

As with nuclear fission, the fusion energy results from a tiny mass difference between initial and final products, the "mass defect".

The amount of binding energy released this way corresponds to Einstein's energy equivalent of mass.

The binding energy of atomic nucleons shows a minimum for iron; therefore energy gain is possible for heavy nuclei by fission, but for light ones by fusion.

[ Sitemap ] [ info ] This website was created by the MPI for the History of Science.