Fusion Energy
Fission energy is the energy produced when particles essentially split apart into other particles. This split releases energy, which we utilize in nuclear power plants to power various technology that we have in modern day society.
Fusion energy is the energy produced when particles combine into bigger particles, however we've had some difficulty in doing this efficiently. Why would we consider fusion energy when we can already use fission energy to power our toys? Well for one, fusion energy leaves less radiation or is less detrimental to the environment.
Physicists are now moving closer to being able to efficiently use fusion energy. How you ask?
Well lets look at a fusion reactor that we KNOW works. Our sun! That's right, the sun is essentially a giant fusion reactor. See, what the sun does is it takes hydrogen atoms, pushes them together at the center, and produces helium atoms.
Lost? Well atoms are defined by the amount of protons they have. If an atom has one proton, it is a hydrogen atom. If an atom has two protons, it is a helium atom. So what essentially happens is hydrogen atoms with their protons are pushed together, so the result is a new atom with 2 protons (helium). This fusion releases a LOT of energy with potentially NO radioactive waste.
So what physicists are attempting to do is recreate this process via machines. They shoot lasers into a cylinder made of gold (which is made up of gold atoms, which have 79 protons), which hit a TINY sphere made up of deuterium & tritium (hydrogen atoms with extra neutrons). The lasers essentially vaporize the gold, which then melts, causing substantial pressure on the sphere full of atoms, which then forces the atoms into a bond, producing energy!
Still don't understand? Well if you've seen the first Star Wars film, there's a scene where Luke, Han Solo, and Leia are in this little garbage dump that's about to be smashed. You can think of Luke, Han, & Leia as the particles in the tiny sphere. You can think of the walls as the gold cylinder. You can think of the force pushing the walls together as the lasers. The force (lasers) pushes the walls (gold cylinder) together in an effort to force the contents (Luke, Han, & Leia) together for the sake of efficiency (energy).
