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It is incredibly high. We hold it in not by any material, but by magnetic fields. Plasma has the handy feature of being magnetic. The Tokamak[1] design used in
by NamTaf 8y ago
It is incredibly high. We hold it in not by any material, but by magnetic fields. Plasma has the handy feature of being magnetic. The Tokamak[1] design used in ITER and this example uses a whole heap of magnets to hold this plasma in a doughnut-shaped area.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokamak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokamak
- arez 8y agoDoesn't it take a lot of energy to have such a big magnetic field?
- saagarjha 8y agoIt does, which is why most fusion reactions currently produce a net negative amount of energy.
- whatshisface 8y agoFundamentally it doesn't have to, because like a weight resting on the top of a ladder magnetic fields store energy and do not dissipate it. In practice it does because our ways of producing and maintaining strong magnetic fields require a lot of upkeep. This, like most things in fusion, is an example of where the realities of present day engineering are far cruler than the laws of physics.
- philwelch 8y ago> The Tokamak[1] design used in ITER and this example uses a whole heap of magnets to hold this plasma in a doughnut-shaped area. The technical term for a "doughnut-shaped area" is "torus"; "tokamak" is an abbreviation for the Russian for, "toroidal chamber with magnetic coils".