From: Dickey, Michael F (michael_f_dickey@groton.pfizer.com)
Date: Wed Mar 06 2002 - 12:07:13 MST
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert J. Bradbury [mailto:bradbury@aeiveos.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 7:01 PM
To: extropians@extropy.org
Subject: re: Cold fusion redux
"Of course the CW is that a room temperature reactor cannot generate the
energies to overcome the repulsions one expects. However there may always be
novel phenomena in which one has to ask whether or not conditions that might
overcome the repulsions may be generated."
Assuming, of course, that 'heat energy' is used to overcome that electrical
repulsion. Heat, which is a measurement of kinetic energy in a system, is
no different then a velocity applied to a particle. Once a significant
portion of the sample of a system overcomes the electric repulsion of nuclei
thanks to random kinetic energy imparted by heat then the strong nuclear
force takes over and binds the nucleons. Ask 50 physcists whats needed for
a fusion reaction and all 50 will probably say "100,000,000 degrees!!" yet
what is really needed is about 230N - 270N applied to the particle.
Temperatures in tokamaks are measured in 'keV' coincidence? I think not. A
mere 14 to 15 keV is enough to overcome the electrostic repulsion of
protons, which is why that Farnsworth fusor I posted earlier works so
easily. I have seen designs for nanotube particule accerelrators that
accelerate the particles to be fused so thier kinetic energy overcomes thier
electric repulsion, sort of like two particle accelerators pointed at each,
and in the middle is fusion. I have also read of plans to replace the
electrons in hydrogen atoms with short lived muons (cousins of the electron
but more than 50 times heavier, and thus having a smaller orbit) the orbital
shells of muonic hydrogens atoms are so small that two muonic hydrogen atoms
can fuse thanks to random quantum mechanical fluctuations. There are many
other options out there that can work without needed the 100,000,000 degree
temperatures.
Michael
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