Ignition
(Science: radiobiology) in fusion, as in an ordinary (chemical) fire, ignition is the point where the temperature and confinement of heat in the fuel (plasma in the case of fusion) are such that energy released from ongoing reactions is sufficient to maintain the temperature of the system, and no external heating is needed. An ignited fusion plasma produces so much energy from fusion reactions that the plasma is fully heated by fusion reaction products (alpha particles in the case of D-T fusion), and the plasma no longer needs any external source of power to maintain its temperature. (The plasma may, however, still need something to maintain its confinement, this gives us control over the fusion reaction and helps prevent fusion reactors from having meltdown problems like fission reactors.)
Dictionary > Ignition
You will also like...
Role of Golgi Apparatus & Endoplasmic Reticulum in Protein Synthesis
The endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus are the organelles involved in the translation step of protein synthesis a..
Plant Cells vs. Animal Cells
Plant cells have plastids essential in photosynthesis. They also have an additional layer called cell wall on their cell..
The Evolutionary Development of Multicellular Organisms
Multicellular organisms evolved. The first ones were likely in the form of sponges. Multicellularity led to the evolutio..
Psychiatry & Mental Disorders
Different mental disorders are described here. Read this tutorial to get an overview of schizophrenia, affective mood di..
Darwin and Natural Selection
This tutorial investigates the genetic diversity in more detail. It also delineates how certain alleles are favored over..
Plant Biology
Plantlife can be studied at a variety of levels, from the molecular, genetic and biochemical level through organelles, c..