If light nuclei are forced
together, they will fuse and energy will be released because the mass
of the combination will be less than the sum of the masses of the
individual nuclei. If the combined nuclear mass is less than that of
iron at the peak of the binding energy curve, then the particles will
be more tightly bound than they were in the lighter nuclei, and that
decrease in mass comes off in the form of energy according to the
Einstein relationship,
Even though a lot of energy is required to overcome the Coulomb repulsion and initiate hydrogen fusion, the energy yields are enough to encourage continued research which may one day lead to fusion reactors on earth to produce energy.
In the universe the most important fusion reactions, because they power the stars, are those that produce helium from hydrogen.
are
neutrinos and gamma rays respectively, which serve to carry away
energy and momentum.
This reaction can be followed by either
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