NEE533 Spring99 - Lecture 24

How Magnetic Confinement Works

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Another approach to fusion involves the heating of a gaseous mixture of fuel atoms to a very high temperature (eventually temperatures of ~100 million degrees Centigrade or more) where they lose their electrons and become ions. Obviously if nothing were done, these hot ions would contact the containment walls and melt them. Fortunately, there is a way to keep the hot ions away from the walls and this relies on the use of strong magnetic fields.

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