Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, is a popular Marvel superhero who uses a suit powered by a mini arc reactor attached to his chest. The little glowy device that keeps Tony alive is just a miniature version of something much larger and greater: a fusion reactor.
First, what is fusion? Fusion is the process of superheating lighter particles to form heavier particles to create energy; the process of superheating particles also forms what is known as plasma. For example, hydrogen atoms are heated up to millions of degrees celsius so that when two collide, there is so much energy that they combine to create helium. This same process is what gives life to the stars in our sky.
Fusion reactors are powered by this process of fusion. A fusion reactor must overcome the repulsive electromagnetic forces that keep positively charged atoms away from each other. By superheating particles into plasma, the atoms overcome this electromagnetic barrier. Therefore, a fusion reactor must heat hydrogen atoms into plasma and use a strong magnetic field to keep them in place to combine.
While stars have the ability to achieve fusion through their massive gravitational force, humans on Earth do not have such massive forces, creating a need for human innovation and ingenuity. While there are no fusion reactors that are consistently running there have been some breakthroughs. The JET-Laboratory based in the UK has created a new world record for the amount of energy it has created. According to the BBC, "The experiment produced 59 megajoules of energy over five seconds (11 megawatts of power)" (Amos, 2022). It may not seem like a lot, but it more than doubled the amount of energy produced by similar experiments in 1997 (Amos, 2022). While Iron Man's arc reactor-powered suit may not be obtainable yet, humanity is creeping closer to a low-carbon, low-radiation solution for energy production.
About the Author
Emily Williams loves physical science and music. She is a section leader in the marching band, and one of her favorite classes in high school has been astronomy.
Sources
What is Fusion? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://fusioned.gat.com/what_is_fusion.html
Amos, J. (2022, February 9). Major breakthrough on nuclear fusion energy. BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60312633
DOE Explains...Fusion Energy Science. Energy.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainsfusion-energy-science
English, T. (2020, January 26). How to Build Iron Man's Reactor. How Does Iron Man's Reactor Work? Retrieved from https://interestingengineering.com/science/how-does-iron-mans-arc-reactor-work
The Future of Fusion. The Future of Fusion | MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.psfc.mit.edu/vision/future_of_fusion
Javascript Required! Nuclear Fusion : WNA - World Nuclear Association. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/nuclear-fusion-power.aspx
Sudhir, S. (2017, December 4). Pseudoscience : How does the Arc reactor work? Feeds NITT. Retrieved from https://feedsnitt.com/2017/12/04/pseudoscience-how-does-the-arc-reactor-work/
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). fusion reactor. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/technology/fusion-reactor
Comments