Do You Know about Artificial Sun? Yes, It happens.

China never stops amazing us when it comes to advancement in technology. China’s scientific sector has a good reputation all over the world due to their inventions. China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) again made all of us surprised when they created artificial Sun. Artificial Sun? Yes, It’s artificial. It may seem a little weird or something that can’t be easily trusted. However, EAST created an artificial sun that mimics the process of the Sun and produces a large amount of energy.

China’s Artificial Sun

The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) reactor is a developed nuclear fusion experimental research tool placed at the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP) in Hefei, China.

Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak led the formation of artificial Sun, which mimics the power generation method of the Sun, set a new record after it attained the temperature at 216 million degrees Fahrenheit (120 million degrees Celsius) for 101 seconds, according to Chinese media. For 20 seconds, the “artificial sun” also accomplished a peak temperature of 288 million degrees Fahrenheit (160 million degrees Celsius), which is beyond ten times hotter than the Sun.

The Principle behind the artificial Sun

Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to create one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles (neutrons or protons). When two atomic nuclei combine to form a nucleus, it results in a difference in mass. The variation (difference) in mass between the reactants and products is exemplified as either the release or energy absorption.

The goal of the artificial Sun is to copy the process of nuclear fusion; the same reaction produces energy in the Sun and stars and generates power.

Why it’s it trending, and why is it important?

Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak led the formation of artificial Sun, which mimics the power generation method of the Sun, set a new record after it attained the temperature at 216 million degrees Fahrenheit (120 million degrees Celsius) for 101 seconds, according to Chinese media. For 20 seconds, the “artificial sun” also accomplished a peak temperature of 288 million degrees Fahrenheit (160 million degrees Celsius), which is beyond ten times hotter than the Sun.

Suppose scientist maintains the temperature at this huge degree of Celsius. In that case, the producing energy can be used for various other works. We can transform heat energy into another form of energy; as we know, energy can not be created or destroyed, but it can be changed from one form to another.

Working of artificial Sun

Fission and nuclear fusion both are energy-producing reactions or processes. However, nuclear fission generates a large amount of radioactive West and is harmful to the environment, while on the other hand, nuclear fusion is much easier than nuclear fission. Therefore, it does not produce greenhouse gases and also produces a lesser quantity of radioactive waste.

To carry out the nuclear fusion process, a large amount of heat and pressure is applied to hydrogen atoms to fuse to carry out the reaction. As a result, the nuclei of deuterium (radioactive elements) and tritium found in hydrogen are made to fuse, creating a helium nucleus, a neutron, and a lot of energy.

Fuel ( deuterium-tritium) is heated to temperatures of over 150 million degrees Celsius to form a hot plasma “soup” of subatomic particles ( neutrons and protons). A strong magnetic field is applied in the reaction to keep away plasma from the walls of the fusion reactor to assure it does not cool down and lose its capacity to generate large amounts of energy. Thus, the plasma is restricted for long durations for fusion to take place.

Advantage OF NUCLEAR FUSION

  • Nuclear fusion is the best means for humans to produce energy.
  • It requires raw materials — deuterium and tritium — which are effortlessly available in the oceans.
  • Nuclear fusion also doesn’t produce a large amount of toxic radioactive garbage and hence, is very environment-friendly.

Disadvantages of Artificial Sun

  • There are always two sides to the coin. It’s is hard to Maintain such hot particles in their plasma state. It requires very, very careful observation, and scientists should be very careful dealing with it.
  • We have conserved 20 seconds temperature higher than the Sun’s, which is nice, but this is not making us successful, and our aim is far away.
  •  If the electromagnetic field got disrupted and plasma entered into the world, what can it create? We all know.

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