Answer
See answers.
Work Step by Step
a. Some advantages of nuclear fusion over fission: the source is deuterium, whose supply is essentially infinite (see Search and Learn 3), and its byproducts aren’t radioactive.
b. The major technological problem is confining the nuclei at a very high temperature and density. Alternatively, a process of “cold fusion” may someday be discovered.
c. One way to solve the confinement problem is through magnetic confinement (e.g., in a tokamak). A magnetic bottle keeps the heated, charged particles inside.
A second way to solve the problem is through inertial confinement. A hydrogen-rich pellet is shot from all directions simultaneously with high-intensity lasers. The heating happens so fast that inertia keeps the hydrogen in place.
d. Deuterium is used, which is a hydrogen isotope with a nucleus containing a proton and a neutron.
e. $^2_1H+^2_1H \rightarrow ^4_2He $
f. Calculate the Q-value, using data from Appendix B. We use atomic masses.
$$Q=\left(2m(^{2}_{1}H)-m(^{4}_{2}He) \right)c^2$$
$$ =\left(2(2.014102u-4.002603u\right)c^2\left( \frac{931.49MeV/c^2}{u}\right)$$
$$=23.85MeV$$
