this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2024
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[–] jlh@lemmy.jlh.name 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Sure, but you can also rip off electrons from atoms by rubbing them or bending a piece of wire. The energy needed to trigger fission in uranium is less than a picojoule, it just needs to be focused enough to knock away the part of the atom, which is why neutrons are the most common way.

Here is a chart with the rate of fusion for two hydrogen atoms at various temperatures.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion#/media/File%3AFusion_rxnrate.svg

This chart bottoms out at a few million degrees, since the probability is extremely low.