Available online
Description
This programme is about a fourth state of matter called PLASMA and how very hot plasma at temperatures around 100 million degrees can be contained and controlled by magnetic force fields. If a suff...iciently hot and dense plasma can be confined long enough for some highly energetic collisions to give rise to fusion of nuclei, then this system would enable a fusion reactor to be built which would provide almost unlimited supplies of energy for mankind. The programme starts in the studio with a plasma "being moved "by an ordinary permanent magnet, then models and animated film are used to explain the nature of the plasma state itself. The conditions for a thermo nuclear plasma in which fusion can take place are discussed. A visit to the Atomic Energy Authority Plasma Physics Laboratory at Culham shows various large scale machines designed to investigate how plasma can be confined with magnetic fields. Studio models and animated film illustrate the behaviour of charged particles in various magnetic field geometries. Finally we visit the site of the largest toroidal machine in the world, J.E.T. presently under construction. A scale model is used to briefly explain how it will work. Then the enormous magnetic field coils are seen in full scale.
This programme is about a fourth state of matter called PLASMA and how very hot plasma at temperatures around 100 million degrees can be contained and controlled by magnetic force fields. If a suff...iciently hot and dense plasma can be confined long enough for some highly energetic collisions to give rise to fusion of nuclei, then this system would enable a fusion reactor to be built which would provide almost unlimited supplies of energy for mankind. The programme starts in the studio with a plasma "being moved "by an ordinary permanent magnet, then models and animated film are used to explain the nature of the plasma state itself. The conditions for a thermo nuclear plasma in which fusion can take place are discussed. A visit to the Atomic Energy Authority Plasma Physics Laboratory at Culham shows various large scale machines designed to investigate how plasma can be confined with magnetic fields. Studio models and animated film illustrate the behaviour of charged particles in various magnetic field geometries. Finally we visit the site of the largest toroidal machine in the world, J.E.T. presently under construction. A scale model is used to briefly explain how it will work. Then the enormous magnetic field coils are seen in full scale.
| Module code and title: | S271, Discovering physics |
|---|---|
| Item code: | S271; 07 |
| First transmission date: | 1982 |
| Published: | 1982 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:25:00 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Tony Jolly |
| Contributors: | Stuart Freake; Bob Lambourne |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Culham; Fusion of nuclei; J.E.T.; Lorentz force; Magnetic force fields; Matter; Plasma; Thermo-nuclear plasma; Tokamak; Toroidal machine |
| Master spool number: | HOU3586 |
| Production number: | FOUS174R |
| Videofinder number: | 1786 |
| Available to public: | no |
