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 M¢25  Funded By Mahalo ? |  July 12, 2009 01:40 PM

How many fusion reactions per second would be required to heat a 1 liter bottle of water to 5000 degrees?

If one neutron produces 2.2 MeV equals 3.5 x 10^-13 joules or 8.4 x 10^-14 calories; and it can exert a force of 1 newton over a distance of 0.0025 nm or heat 1 mL of water by 0.000000000000084 degrees C.

How many neutron reactions per second are required to heat a liter bottle to 5000 degrees
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July 13, 2009 08:40 AM
Assuming there is no heat loss from the water bottle, only the total number of fusion reactions is important; a lower rate of fusion will simply result in slower heating. If one fusion reaction releases 8.4 x 10^-14 calories, it will take about 1.2 x 10^13 reactions to produce 1 calorie, or 1.2 x 10^16 reactions to heat 1 liter of water by 1 degree C.

Assuming that the water started out at 14.5 C (to match the standard definition of the calorie) under standard atmospheric pressure, it would reach the boiling point of 100 C after just over 10^18 fusion reactions. Vaporizing 1 liter of boiling water at standard pressure takes about 539,000 calories, or about 6.5 x 10^18 fusion reactions' worth of heat. The specific heat of water vapor is about 2 kilojoules, or 477 calories or 5.7 x 10^15 fusion reactions, per kilogram per degree (ignoring effects of pressure and dissociation of water molecules), so heating 1 kg of water vapor from 100 degrees to 5000 degrees would take about 2.8 x 10^19 fusion reactions' worth of heat.

Therefore, the final answer is 10^18 + 6.5 x 10^18 + 2.8 x 10^19, or about 3.6 x 10^19 fusion reactions to heat the water in the bottle to 5000 degrees.
Source(s):
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/phase.html
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/water-thermal-properties-d_162.html



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Voted as best: davepamn
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August 10, 2009 12:51 AM
How many watts per cubic centimeter would 3.6 x 10^19 fusion reactions create?

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August 10, 2009 09:02 AM
One calorie equals the energy from 1.2 x 10^13 fusion reactions, so 3.6 x 10^19 fusion reactions produce 3,000,000 calories or just under 3.5 kilowatt-hours, for an average of 3.5 watt-hours per cubic centimeter.

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August 10, 2009 02:18 PM
If the material were palladium and not water. Would the fusion reactions required to raise the palladium to 5000 degrees be 27 x 10^19 fusion reactions or 22.5 million calories and 26 watts per cubic centimeter?

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