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Polywell
The polywell is a proposed design for a fusion reactor using an electric and magnetic field to heat ions to fusion conditions. The design is related to the fusor, the high beta fusion reactor, the magnetic mirror, and the biconic cusp. A set of electromagnets generates a magnetic field that traps electrons. This creates a negative voltage, which attracts positive ions. As the ions accelerate towards the negative center, their kinetic energy rises. Ions that collide at high enough energies can nuclear fusion, fuse. Mechanism Fusor heating A Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor consists of two wire cages, one inside the other, often referred to as grids, that are placed inside a vacuum chamber. The outer cage has a positive voltage versus the inner cage. A fuel, typically, deuterium gas, is injected into this chamber. It is heated past its Ionization energy, ionization temperature, making positive ions. The ions are positive and move towards the negative inner cage. Those that miss the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fusion Reactor
Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices designed to harness this energy are known as fusion reactors. Research into fusion reactors began in the 1940s, but as of 2025, no device has reached net power. Fusion processes require fuel, in a state of plasma, and a confined environment with sufficient temperature, pressure, and confinement time. The combination of these parameters that results in a power-producing system is known as the Lawson criterion. In stellar cores the most common fuel is the lightest isotope of hydrogen ( protium), and gravity provides the conditions needed for fusion energy production. Proposed fusion reactors would use the heavy hydrogen isotopes of deuterium and tritium for DT fusion, for which the Lawson criterion is the easiest to achieve. This produce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction, reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei combine to form a larger nuclei, nuclei/neutrons, neutron by-products. The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifested as either the release or absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption of energy. This difference in mass arises as a result of the difference in nuclear binding energy between the atomic nuclei before and after the fusion reaction. Nuclear fusion is the process that powers all active stars, via many Stellar nucleosynthesis, reaction pathways. Fusion processes require an extremely large Lawson criterion, triple product of temperature, density, and confinement time. These conditions occur only in Stellar core, stellar cores, advanced Nuclear weapon design, nuclear weapons, and are approached in List of fusion experiments, fusion power experiments. A nuclear fusion process that produces atomic nuclei lighter than nickel-62 is generally exothermic, due t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fusor Mechanism
A fusor is a device that uses an electric field to heat ions to a temperature at which they undergo nuclear fusion. The machine induces a potential difference between two metal cages, inside a vacuum. Positive ions fall down this voltage drop, building up speed. If they collide in the center, they can fuse. This is one kind of an inertial electrostatic confinement device – a branch of fusion research. A Farnsworth–Hirsch fusor is the most common type of fusor. This design came from work by Philo T. Farnsworth in 1964 and Robert L. Hirsch in 1967.Robert L. Hirsch, "Inertial-Electrostatic Confinement of Ionized Fusion Gases", Journal of Applied Physics, v. 38, no. 7, October 1967 A variant type of fusor had been proposed previously by William Elmore, James L. Tuck, and Ken Watson at the Los Alamos National Laboratory"On the Inertial Electrostatic Confinement of a Plasma" William Elmore, James Tuck and Ken Watson, The Physics of Fluids, January 30, 1959 though they never built t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fusor
A fusor is a device that uses an electric field to heat ions to a temperature at which they undergo nuclear fusion. The machine induces a potential difference between two metal cages, inside a vacuum. Positive ions fall down this voltage drop, building up speed. If they collide in the center, they can fuse. This is one kind of an inertial electrostatic confinement device – a branch of fusion research. A Farnsworth–Hirsch fusor is the most common type of fusor. This design came from work by Philo T. Farnsworth in 1964 and Robert L. Hirsch in 1967.Robert L. Hirsch, "Inertial-Electrostatic Confinement of Ionized Fusion Gases", Journal of Applied Physics, v. 38, no. 7, October 1967 A variant type of fusor had been proposed previously by William Elmore, James L. Tuck, and Ken Watson at the Los Alamos National Laboratory"On the Inertial Electrostatic Confinement of a Plasma" William Elmore, James Tuck and Ken Watson, The Physics of Fluids, January 30, 1959 though they never bui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biconic Cusp
The biconic cusp, also known as the picket fence reactor, was one of the earliest suggestions for plasma confinement in a fusion reactor. It consists of two parallel electromagnets with the current running in opposite directions, creating oppositely directed magnetic fields. The two fields interact to form a "null area" between them where the fusion fuel can be trapped. The concept arose as a reaction to an issue raised by Edward Teller in 1953. Teller noted that any design that had the plasma held on the inside of concave magnetic fields would be naturally unstable. The cusp concept had fields that were convex, and the plasma was held within an area of little or no field in the inside of the device. The concept was independently presented in 1954 by both Harold Grad at the Courant Institute in New York and James L. Tuck at Los Alamos. At first there was little interest in the design because Teller's problem was not being seen in other early fusion machines. By the late 195 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wiffle Ball
Wiffle ball is a scaled back variation of baseball that was developed in 1953 in Fairfield, Connecticut. Originally, it was intended to be played in confined space or otherwise small area, but became a popular outdoor activity. The sport is played using a perforated light-weight plastic ball and a long hollow plastic bat. Two teams of one to five players each attempt to advance runners to home plate, and score, based on where each batter places the ball on the field. The term ''Wiffle ball'' may refer to the sport as a whole, or the ball used in the sport. Wiffle is a registered trademark of ''Wiffle Ball, Inc.'' and was derived from the slang word ''whiff'' meaning to strike out. History Miniature versions of baseball have been played for decades, including stickball, improvised by children, using everything from rolled up socks to tennis balls. The ball most commonly used in the game was invented by David N. Mullany at his home in Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1953 when ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dynomak
Dynomak is a spheromak fusion reactor concept developed by the University of Washington using U.S. Department of Energy funding.Michelle Ma"UW fusion reactor concept could be cheaper than coal" ''University of Washington'', October 8, 2014Evan Ackerman"Inside the Dynomak" ''IEEE Spectrum'', November 26, 2014 A dynomak is a spheromak that is started and maintained by magnetic flux injection. It is formed when an alternating current is used to induce a magnetic flux into Plasma (physics), plasma. An electric alternating current transformer uses the same induction process to create a secondary current. Once formed, the plasma inside a dynomak relaxes into its lowest energy state, while conserving overall flux.Taylor, J. Brian. "Relaxation of toroidal plasma and generation of reverse magnetic fields." Physical Review Letters 33.19 (1974): 1139. This is termed a Taylor state and inside the machine what is formed is a plasma structure named a spheromak. A dynomak is a kind of spheromak t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electrical Resistivity And Conductivity
Electrical resistivity (also called volume resistivity or specific electrical resistance) is a fundamental specific property of a material that measures its electrical resistance or how strongly it resists electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allows electric current. Resistivity is commonly represented by the Greek alphabet, Greek letter (Rho (letter), rho). The SI unit of electrical resistivity is the ohm-metre (Ω⋅m). For example, if a solid cube of material has sheet contacts on two opposite faces, and the Electrical resistance, resistance between these contacts is , then the resistivity of the material is . Electrical conductivity (or specific conductance) is the reciprocal of electrical resistivity. It represents a material's ability to conduct electric current. It is commonly signified by the Greek letter (Sigma (letter), sigma), but (kappa) (especially in electrical engineering) and (gamma) are sometimes used. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stellarator
A stellarator confines Plasma (physics), plasma using external magnets. Scientists aim to use stellarators to generate fusion power. It is one of many types of magnetic confinement fusion devices. The name "stellarator" refers to stars because fusion mostly occurs in stars such as the Sun. It is one of the earliest human-designed fusion power devices. The stellarator was invented by American scientist Lyman Spitzer in 1951. Much of its early development was carried out by Spitzer's team at what became the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). Spitzer's Model A began operation in 1953 and demonstrated plasma confinement. Larger models followed, but demonstrated poor performance, losing plasma at rates far worse than theoretical predictions. By the early 1960s, hopes of producing a commercial machine faded, and attention turned to studying fundamental theory. By the mid-1960s, Spitzer was convinced that the stellarator was matching the Bohm diffusion rate, which suggested i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superposition Principle
The superposition principle, also known as superposition property, states that, for all linear systems, the net response caused by two or more stimuli is the sum of the responses that would have been caused by each stimulus individually. So that if input ''A'' produces response ''X'', and input ''B'' produces response ''Y'', then input (''A'' + ''B'') produces response (''X'' + ''Y''). A function F(x) that satisfies the superposition principle is called a linear function. Superposition can be defined by two simpler properties: additivity F(x_1 + x_2) = F(x_1) + F(x_2) and homogeneity F(ax) = a F(x) for scalar . This principle has many applications in physics and engineering because many physical systems can be modeled as linear systems. For example, a beam can be modeled as a linear system where the input stimulus is the load on the beam and the output response is the deflection of the beam. The importance of linear systems is that they are easier to analyze mathemat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
