2 minute read
Breakthrough in nuclear fusion energy production
By Amrit Mander 12 PS
Scientists have been trying to recreate nuclear fusion on earth since the 1960’s, and on 13th December 2022 a major breakthrough was made. For the first time in 60 years of experimenting, researchers at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California announced that they produced more energy in a fusion experiment than was put in. Using a 192 beam laser to input 2.05 MJ of energy, they outputted 3 15 MJ of fusion energy
As compared to how nuclear energy is produced currently (fission), fusion is more environmentally friendly and is even referred to as the “holy grail” of energy production It produces no radioactive waste, instead working with hydrogen, which can cheaply be extracted from renewable sources such as seawater, so fuel supplies are limitless. It works by heating the hydrogen atoms which causes them to fuse and release energythree to four times the amount released by fission, which is already almost 8000 times more efficient than coal.
Although the researchers made a significant development in regards to nuclear fusion, there is still a long way to go. Despite energy output being more than the energy inputted by the laser beam, not counted was how much energy was needed to actually power the laser In addition, the experiment at the National Ignition Facility costs about $3 5 billion dollars, and the energy produced in the recent success was only enough to power approximately 15-20 kettles
References: bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-63957085 bbc co uk/news/science-environment-63950962
What is absolute zero and why is it impossible to reach?
By Farah Nehor - Raune, 9S
Absolute zero is the lowest theoretically possible temperature where the movement of heat-generating particles would be minimal It is commonly defined as 0 Kelvin (K) on the Kelvin temperature scale, -273 15 degrees on the Celsius scale (°C) or -459.67 degrees on the Farenheit scale (°F) Not all the movement of molecules stops at absolute zero but the energy obtained from the movement of molecules (e g heat energy) cannot be transferred to other systems, and therefore it is correct to say that the energy at absolute zero is minimum The reason why it is impossible to reach absolute zero is due to the third law of thermodynamics.This law states that it is impossible to reach absolute zero in a finite number of steps therefore making this temperature theoretically impossible to reach, as it would require infinite amounts of energy. In practice, scientists have been able to reach temperatures very close to absolute zero; however, even in these extreme conditions, there is still residual thermal energy in the system, which means that absolute zero remains an unattainable goal.
References:
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2023) Absolute zero | Definition & Facts. Available at: britannica com/science/absolute-zero
Gainey, C (2019) Racing toward Absolute Zero Available at: blogs scientificamerican com/observations/racing-toward -absolute-zero/
Delbert, C (2022) Scientists Got Close to Reaching Absolute Zero Available at: popularmechanics com/science/a38967844/reaching-abs olute-zero/
Morrison, R. (2021) Scientists create the coldest temperature EVER recorded in the lab Available at:dailymail co uk/sciencetech/article-10072549/Scientists -create-coldest-temperature-recorded-lab.html