Idk how I got onto this but I was just googling shit and I was wondering how we are running out of helium. I read that helium is the one non-renuable element on this planet because it comes from the result of radioactive decay. But from my memory and the D- I got in highschool chemistry, helium is number 2 on the periodic table of elements and hydrogen is number 1, so why can’t we just take a fuck ton of hydrogen, do some chemistry shit and turn it into helium? I know it’s not that simple I just don’t understand why it wouldn’t work.
Edit: I get it, it’s nuclear fusion which is physics, not chemistry. My grades were so back in chemistry that I didn’t take physics. Thank you for explaining it to me!
In: Chemistry
There are forces that are incredibly strong at short distances that are responsible for keeping atoms together. They work kind of like magnetism. If you try to push two magnets together (the positive ends, for example) they will repel each other. Same goes for atoms. Two hydrogen atoms will work together to form molecules but if you try to get them so close that their insides (the nucleus) touch then they will strongly push back. You need tremendous heat and/or pressure to overcome that force. Stars can do this by their enormous gravity. On earth we’ve found ways to do it but it takes a lot of energy and technology to do so. The most straightforward way is to make a fission nuclear bomb and surround hydrogen so that when it explodes it forces that hydrogen together. This creates an even bigger explosion. We call that a fusion bomb.
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