Diagram illustrating deuterium-tritium fusion in three steps: 1. the D and T accelerating towards each other at thermonuclear speeds, 2. the creation of an unstable He-5 nucleus, 3. the ejection of a neutron and repulsion of the He-4 nucleus. My hope is that this form of representation will make fusion look less "magical" — that is, will get rid of the misconception that some sort of mysterious "bang" occurs releasing "energy", as many students have it. Instead I want it to be clear that the "energy" is released in the form of the velocities of the constiuent parts being thrown apart, which I think is a much easier thing for the non-scientifically inclined to visualize and makes it more straightforward (at no sacrifice to being scientifically accurate, as far as I know).
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CC BY 2.5
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>