Nuclear Fusion Research Paper

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One must first imagine an enormous cloud of gas and dust many light-years across. Gravity, the constant force tries to pull the materials together. A few grains of dust collect a few more, then a few more, then more still. Eventually, enough gas and dust has been collected into a giant ball that, at the center of the ball, the temperature from all the gas and dust colliding into each other under great pressure of the surrounding material reaches 15 million degrees or so. A phenomenal event them occurs, nuclear fusion begins and the ball of gas and dust starts to glow. A new star has begun its life in our Universe.
The brightest item in the sky, our Sun is the object of profound respect and interest in numerous human advancements on Earth. The …show more content…

As the contraction of the gas and dust progresses and the temperature reaches 15 million degrees or so, the pressure at the center of the ball becomes enormous. The electrons are stripped off of their parent atoms, creating a plasma. The contraction continues and the nuclei in the plasma start moving faster and faster. Eventually, they approach each other so fast that they overcome the electrical repulsion that exists between their protons. The nuclei crash into each other so hard that they stick together, or fuse. In doing so, they give off a great deal of energy. This energy from fusion pours out from the core, setting up an outward pressure in the gas around it that balances the inward pull of gravity. When the released energy reaches the outer layers of the ball of gas and dust, it moves off into space in the form of electromagnetic radiation. The ball, now a star, begins to …show more content…

Towards the end around twenty percent of the star's starting mass remains and the star spends its remaining time cooling. This contraction continue until it is just a couple of thousand miles in distance across. It has turned into a white smaller dwarf. White dwarfs remain steady as the draw of gravity is adjusted by the electrons in the center of the star repulsing one another. With no fuel left to blaze, the hot star emanates its remaining warmth into the coldness of space for some billions of years. At last, it will simply sit in space as a cool dull mass often referred to as a black

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