Fusion Message Board

In this space, visitors are invited to post any comments, questions, or skeptical observations about Philo T. Farnsworth's contributions to the field of Nuclear Fusion research.

Subject: Re: High pressure D2 fusion
Date: Oct 28, 11:05 pm
Poster: Richard Hull

On Oct 28, 11:05 pm, Richard Hull wrote:


>You only are taking into account the force of electrostatic acceleration. Does current cause acceleration too?

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No, Absolutely not! Remember current in a wire or gas or any conducting media is only a function of the number of current carriers passing a given point in a second. Current is charge in motion only! To get the charges in motion from 1 charge to 200 trillion charges, potential is required. I a gas, the number of ions in motion determine the current. The potential they fall through determines the kinetic energy of the individual particles. Current is just a measure of how many of those particles we can force to fall through the potential.

You can't have any current without charges being in motion somewhere and thus a potential gradient must exist. In the case of a thousand amp arc in gas if the potential drop is only 13 volts, that is all the ions have is 13ev of energy. This is about what happens in a huge mercury ignitron when welding 1" thick steel plates. RH

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>Lets not forget Amperian longitudinal forces, and plasma filament focusing. Radiation-reaction warped particles that tunnel may be a cause too.

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Amperian forces are significant only at extreme currents of 100 amps or more. Major amperian pondermotive forces are rarely encountered under 1000 amps. The lamps in question are just a few amps.

Without detailed data, plasma filament focusing and tunneling are long shots for making a simple arc lamp into a potent neutron source, and probably clutching at straws.

Richard Hull