Fission is what is currently used in nuclear reactors today, and it basically consists of atoms breaking apart and releasing energy due to their bonds being broken.
How is fusion such an efficient energy source? I would imagine that to create atoms, large amounts of energy would have to be pumped in to make bonds.
In: Physics
If you fuse two atoms of hydrogen together, you generate helium and you eject a neutron. That ejection creates a LOT of energy because you are tapping into the strong nuclear attraction. Since I am not breaking the atom down, I am not creating a radioactive byproduct.
To put it more simply, there are left over ‘parts’ of the atom’s nucleus that result from the fusion process. Regardless of fission or fusion, those leftover parts expend energy that was bottled up by the atom’s atomic force. It is relatively easy to fuse hydrogen together, we have done it many times, but it is inefficient. For fusion into metallic atoms, you need the energy of an exploding star. So…nothing we can yet do. A star is the one real alchemist in our universe. That might be old information, but it is what I remember from a while back.
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