Nuclear fusion

How it is used

Fusion needs extremely high temperatures and pressures so that the positive nuclei can overcome their electric repulsion. Researchers are developing fusion reactors, such as tokamaks, as a possible future energy source. It is the opposite of fission, which splits heavy nuclei.

Example sentences

1. In the core of the Sun, nuclear fusion turns hydrogen into helium.

2. Nuclear fusion produces much less long-lived radioactive waste than fission.

Common collocations

• fusion reactor
• fusion reaction
• thermonuclear fusion
• plasma

Related terms

• nuclear fissionThe splitting of a heavy nucleus, such as uranium-235, into two smaller nuclei, usually after it absorbs a neutron. It releases a large amount of energy and more neutrons.
• nucleusThe very small, dense centre of an atom, made of protons and neutrons. It contains almost all of the atom's mass and all of its positive charge.
• isotopeOne of two or more forms of the same element whose atoms have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. Isotopes behave the same chemically but have different masses.
• energyThe ability of a system to do work or cause change. It comes in many forms, such as kinetic, potential, thermal and chemical, and it is measured in joules (J).

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• nuclear fusion · Astronomy & Space

More terms: Atomic and Nuclear Physics

• atom
• electron
• radioactive decay
• half-life