Fusor energy output/neutron
Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 1:02 pm
Yes, it's quite low, but not as low as some have reported. Just a post to put out the rather simple math, only intended to get the order of magnitude correct, since some of the bright lights in the field are off by 10e4 on the low side.
Most fusions are either the type that makes a neutron and 3He, or the type that makes a proton and tritium - the ratio is roughly 50% for each. Thus for every neutron output, there are most likely two fusions with very approximately 3.5 MeV output per fusion. So, for every neutron output, there is about 7 MeV output. Going to an online energy unit conversion site (since my Halliday is temporarily somewhere else), we find that this is:
7 000 000 electronvolt = 1.12152411e-12 joule.
Multiply that by 10e6 for a fusor making around 1 million neuts/second - a very achievable amount, and we have: 1.12152411e-6 joule/second.
This is about 1 microwatt per million neuts/second. Not one billionth or ten billionth, one millionth of a watt.
This will be off by a few percent, since both reactions aren't precisely 3.5 MeV, nor do they split exactly 50-50, but it's pretty close.
Sorry to dip so low as to put you know, real numbers on this via simple calculations, but it seemed needed since some of the bright lights in the "cult of personality" on another fusion board are getting it so wrong. Yeah, you're not going to boil that cup of tea with a microwatt, or ten microwatts (numbers we've reached here) but it's not quite as grim as some say.
Most fusions are either the type that makes a neutron and 3He, or the type that makes a proton and tritium - the ratio is roughly 50% for each. Thus for every neutron output, there are most likely two fusions with very approximately 3.5 MeV output per fusion. So, for every neutron output, there is about 7 MeV output. Going to an online energy unit conversion site (since my Halliday is temporarily somewhere else), we find that this is:
7 000 000 electronvolt = 1.12152411e-12 joule.
Multiply that by 10e6 for a fusor making around 1 million neuts/second - a very achievable amount, and we have: 1.12152411e-6 joule/second.
This is about 1 microwatt per million neuts/second. Not one billionth or ten billionth, one millionth of a watt.
This will be off by a few percent, since both reactions aren't precisely 3.5 MeV, nor do they split exactly 50-50, but it's pretty close.
Sorry to dip so low as to put you know, real numbers on this via simple calculations, but it seemed needed since some of the bright lights in the "cult of personality" on another fusion board are getting it so wrong. Yeah, you're not going to boil that cup of tea with a microwatt, or ten microwatts (numbers we've reached here) but it's not quite as grim as some say.