G Force and Fusion

Thread Starter

ben sorenson

Joined Feb 28, 2022
180
Silly question, probably.... but if we could create a G Force on earth of let's say a wild 1,000 G's or even on the low side, 200g's could that be used in anyway to initiate, sustain, induce or otherwise promote any type of fusion reaction? Where instead of of the "pressure" being heat like in a reactor, the "pressure" would be the G Force?
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,976
I have a rifle in which the bullet's acceleration down the barrel is about 100,000g (about 10^6 m/s²), so you might want to rethink things.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,079
"Silly question, probably...."
No really but it shows a lack of understanding the relationship between gravity, mass, pressure and the triplet of conditions needed for nuclear fusion.
https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/what-is-nuclear-fusion


Mechanically creating 1,000 G's is fairly easy.
https://www.auto123.com/en/racing-n...he-cosworth-v-8-formula-1-engine?artid=117234
Connecting rod strength - able to support the weight of a Range Rover
At 18,000rpm the peak acceleration for each piston is 8,600 Gs (i.e. 8,600 times the force of gravity) -- over 2,000 times greater than the peak cornering and braking figures for an F1 car. This piston acceleration is equivalent to a weight of around 2.5 tons (or the weight of a Range Rover) pulling on the connecting rod.
 

BobTPH

Joined Jun 5, 2013
8,809
I have a rifle in which the bullet's acceleration down the barrel is about 100,000g (about 10^6 m/s²), so you might want to rethink things.
Which is probably nothing compared to the acceleration if it hits a 3” thick steel plate right out of the barrel.
 

crutschow

Joined Mar 14, 2008
34,281
The pressure at the center of the sun, where the fusion reaction occurs is:
The core is made of hot, dense plasma (ions and electrons), at a pressure estimated at 265 billion bar (3.84 trillion psi or 26.5 petapascals (PPa)) at the center.
That corresponds to rather a large number of g's.
 

ZCochran98

Joined Jul 24, 2018
303
A few thousands of gs of force are quite survivable, depending on how that force hits you.
364 GPa is roughly the pressure at the center of the earth (no fusion there)
~500-1500 GPa can, in the right circumstances, create metallic hydrogen, but that's still not fusion; just hydrogen in an electrically-conductive (potentially superconductive) state.
As @crutschow said, the pressure at the center of the sun is about 26.5 PPa (1 PPa = 1 million GPa). I'm not sure what the lower limit on pressure to ignite fusion is (using pressure ALONE), but it's well beyond our capabilities, as far as I know. That's why most fusion systems rely on heat or other factors (inertial confinement, static confinement, lasers, fission-triggered fusion, etc).

If you really want to take a serious look at homemade fusion, look at the fusor. These things can be made by anyone with enough technical skill and the right equipment, though they can be a bit dangerous (due to high voltages and strong vacuum). The catch is it takes way more energy to power a fusor than you could conceivably pull from one.
 
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