Nuclear+Fusion

=Nuclear Fusion= This is the process which fuels the sun and creates the wide variety of heavy elements we find in our universe. Although there are numerous fusion processes going in the Sun, for the purposes of the A level we are going to focus on two catalysed processes for the fusion of hydrogen in to helium - the so called Proton-Proton (or Hydrogen) Cycle and the CNO (or Carbon) Cycle.

The Proton-Proton Cycle

This diagram is taken from http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/astro/procyc.html where you can find more information. More details on the Proton-Proton Cycle The Carbon Cycle In the conversion of C-N-C-N-O-N-C - the so called CNO cycle - 4 protons are taken in, 2 of which decay by beta + decay to create 2 protons and 2 neutrons. These are eventually combined and released as Helium nuclei. In this way the Nuclear fusion of hydrogen into Helium in a hydrogen burning process is catalysed.

For more information see: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/astro/carbcyc.html#c1

Or the presentation:

We are currently trying to commercially exploit nuclear fusion in projects like Jet.