4 ms·

Here's a video explaining the reaction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy0kHQASsX8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy0kHQASsX8

by crusso 7y ago

dctoedt 7y ago
Upvoted — the first minute or so of the video is very helpful; it shows (what looks like) PowerPoint slides with drawings of a proton (1H nucleus) hitting a boron nucleus (5B11); the proton fuses into the boron nucleus to create what presumably is a single carbon nucleus (6C12), which then splits into three helium nuclei (each 2He4) without emitting free neutrons. (The very-crude video technique was fascinating to this non-artistic person: Create PowerPoint slides, add subtitles for "narration" that float in and out, and finally add stock music for background. That might be useful for flipped-classroom courses.)
- jobseeker990 7y ago
  Why would the carbon split? Why not stay carbon? And wouldn't this technically be fission energy then?
  - dctoedt 7y ago
    > Why would the carbon split? Why not stay carbon? Don't know — I'm not knowledgeable enough in this area to do more than take WAGs about it. The sequence might be different: For example, the 1H proton might not ever fuse with the 5B11 to form 6C12; instead, the fusion reaction might be that the 5B11 fissions into two 2He4 and one tritium 1H3, after which the 1H proton fuses to the tritium to form the third 2He4. > And wouldn't this technically be fission energy then? See the explanation in this thread at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22383199 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22383199 — it makes as much sense as anything.
  - grogers 7y ago
    The rough explanation I've heard before is to satisfy conservation of momentum and energy together. But on doing some more digging this seems wrong. C12+gamma is an output, just only for 0.01% of reactions. No idea why the different byproducts have different rates though.

4 ms·

Here's a video explaining the reaction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy0kHQASsX8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy0kHQASsX8

by crusso 7y ago

Here's a video explaining the reaction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy0kHQASsX8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy0kHQASsX8

dctoedt 7y ago
Upvoted — the first minute or so of the video is very helpful; it shows (what looks like) PowerPoint slides with drawings of a proton (1H nucleus) hitting a boron nucleus (5B11); the proton fuses into the boron nucleus to create what presumably is a single carbon nucleus (6C12), which then splits into three helium nuclei (each 2He4) without emitting free neutrons. (The very-crude video technique was fascinating to this non-artistic person: Create PowerPoint slides, add subtitles for "narration" that float in and out, and finally add stock music for background. That might be useful for flipped-classroom courses.)
- jobseeker990 7y ago
  Why would the carbon split? Why not stay carbon? And wouldn't this technically be fission energy then?
  - dctoedt 7y ago
    > Why would the carbon split? Why not stay carbon? Don't know — I'm not knowledgeable enough in this area to do more than take WAGs about it. The sequence might be different: For example, the 1H proton might not ever fuse with the 5B11 to form 6C12; instead, the fusion reaction might be that the 5B11 fissions into two 2He4 and one tritium 1H3, after which the 1H proton fuses to the tritium to form the third 2He4. > And wouldn't this technically be fission energy then? See the explanation in this thread at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22383199 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22383199 — it makes as much sense as anything.
  - grogers 7y ago
    The rough explanation I've heard before is to satisfy conservation of momentum and energy together. But on doing some more digging this seems wrong. C12+gamma is an output, just only for 0.01% of reactions. No idea why the different byproducts have different rates though.