Why Is extremely high Pressure.......?

Question

Why is extremely high pressure required to cause atomic nuclei to crash into one another in stars ??

Answer 1

It is not. High *temperature* is required for fusion because high thermal kinetic energy overcome Coulomb repulsion during collisions. High pressures, however, strongly influence the rate at which reactions occur because pressure is proportional to density (and therefore collision frequency) at a given temperature.

Answer 2

I have had high blood pressure since I was 32yrs and am now 47yr old. They do not know why and just call it ideopathic --meaning "no known cause" - hypertension. I usually run 148/86 and take 2 different medications daily, but when I get stressed, it has gone as high as 170/110. I have gone through the battery of tests. There are so many factors that effect your BP. Smoking, alcohol use, drug use, kidney problems, heart problems, atherosclerosis, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, lung problems. It's kind of like a process of elemination sometimes to get the answer. I don't mean to preach, but if you don't control high BP, you run the risk of systemic shut down of your body over time. There are so many different medications out and new ones everyday, that surely your boyfriend can find one ot two that will work and he can function with. I can't stress how important is. Otherwise you run the risk of strokes, cardiomegaly--which is enlargement of the heart and has no cure ---kidney failure, aortic aneurysm, aneurysms of the brain, blindness and a whole slew of other organ failures. Please urge him to ask his doctor about any new meds that have come out. I take Maxide, which is a potassium sparing diuretic, and atenolol, which is actually a heart med used for slowing the heart rate and lowering the BP. The two meds are usually prescribed together. I have not had any side effects but PLEASE remember that no two people are exactly alike and should never be treated exactly the same until thoroughly examined by a doctor. I don't mean to sound sexist, but men are more reluctant to seek medical care than women are. My husband is the same. He won't go to the doctor unless he's half dead. I don't know if they think of it as a weakness or are afraid of what they are going to hear from the doctor. Men think of themselves as the ones who take care of others and hate the idea of being the ones who need help. I've been an RN for 23yrs and it hasn't changed. Please just keep being supportive of him. You sound like an awesome woman and I hope he knows how lucky he is to have you. Best of Luck to You Both!!

Answer 3

Nuclei are positively charged, hence repel each other, and at the close approach needed to have any possibility of a nuclear interaction, the repulsive force is huge.

Answer 4

Because I think they naturally repel each other, so intense heat and pressure is required to fuse them.