3 ms·
> In the sun, isn't energy production occurring at something like 100-1000 W/m3? It's just an average. Fusion occurs only in the core, which is pretty tiny, re
by Florin_Andrei 6y ago
> In the sun, isn't energy production occurring at something like 100-1000 W/m3?
It's just an average. Fusion occurs only in the core, which is pretty tiny, relatively speaking.
> The plasma heats up, but how do you turn that into useful electrical energy?
The same way you can turn any kind of heat into useful energy.
- skykooler 6y agoIt's not just that the fusion only occurs in the core, but the fusion rate is also very low; it's only because the sun is so incredibly massive that this slow reaction rate can self-sustain. With a much smaller fusion reactor, the reaction rate needs to be much higher to keep itself going and to create enough power to run the electromagnets that keep it confined.