Proposal Argument I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Proposal Argument I - Essay Example Meet the Parents† was made on this topic in which a male nurse fell in love with a girl and when they go to visit the parents of that girl everything become a nightmare just because the profession owned by that guy was nursing. The movie represents a true picture of our society because today, millions of people have a perception that nursing is only a field for females and they believe a man cannot fit in a feminine field. I believe this is totally wrong and unfair because the issue of inequality of male nurses is exactly the same to the issues of discrimination in other professions. To understand the reasons for inequality facing men in nursing, it is crucial to have an insight into the past of this profession. In the 3rd century, nursing was founded as an attractive profession in ancient rime and at that time it was dominated by men. In the 20th century, women dominated nursing and had kicked out men from this profession by creating a perception that nursing is a â€Å"feminine† profession. The biggest support with women was the foundation of the American Nurse Association in 1913, which banned the entry of men. Later, somewhere in 1930’s men were welcomed to nursing, but just in papers and documents because they were discriminated by teachers in school and later on by peers, patients and society in their workplace. I have been interviewing many registered male nurses and most of them complained about unequal treatment by teachers in school. Johnson is a registered male nurse and he told me that the course contents, class environment and teaching style were women centered, which compelled me to feel uncomfortable during classes (Johnson). Many authors also participated in making the issue of inequality in the field of nursing for male nurse by referring nurses as women in their books and text books which further discouraged males from choosing nursing as a profession. This is not the limit, as patients usually demand to have female nurses to take care of

Women Gender studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Women Gender studies - Essay Example My breakfast is often characterized by bodybuilding foods that enable me retain a masculine and handsome stance. I leave my room to get breakfast, which entails coffee, a snack and a fruit such as an apple. However, in some cases I take breakfast in a bit of rush conscious of my departure time. Being a bodybuilding boy arguably requires more time to get ready to leave than girls do. This can be attributed to the fact that my desire for a masculine heavily built body requires adequate time for eating and rigorous exercise every day. Whereas I spend significant amount of time shaping up to a heavily built muscular man, girls spend time applying makeup and dressing up to attain a feminine look. Girls’ activities can be directly linked to women in search of beauty. Adoption of such practices in search of beauty can be attributed to the community setting and expectations that have been passed on from generation to generation. Likewise, I find myself focusing more on how my body is built because the societal expectations of handsomeness is based on muscular looks. However, there has been a trending shift with gender roles and expectations almost coming to a convergence. For example, every now and then we see some men visiting salons and using a wide variety of products whereas women are also spending more time jogging to keep strong and fit. In the past men, used only the basic products such as skin oil as opposed to this days where men plait their hair, use hair products among other cosmetics. I am not surprised that part of my shopping as a man involves manicure and pedicure products albeit sparingly. Societal expectations for men to have well built bodies have arguably caused an equal amount of trouble. Purchase and use of steroids and other muscle enhancing drugs is on the rise. Likewise, slimming products and programs have taken toll on the modern woman in bid to stay within societal expectations. For example,

Vision Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Vision - Research Paper Example At the end of the process, there is the consolidation of the gains by the organization before ending the process by anchoring the change (Cameron and Mike 187). The success of any organization usually comes about due to the joint efforts of all stakeholders within the organization especially in decision-making. This calls for the engagement of every person within an organization in the coming up with a vision and its communication so that the business achieves its mission and objectives presently and in the future. This underscores the importance of vision to any business that operates in any environment, which must carefully adopt changes especially in its vision to align it with the dynamism of the operational environment. In this work, our focus will be on vision, what and how it should be and the reason for having the vision within an organization. Vision is important to any organization as it will determining the success of the business as it gives the process through which the business is to be run and the expected benefits. This means that having a strong vision and the strategy for executing it is important in the carrying out of change within any organization. According to Kotter, having an effective vision helps the company to define its future by conveying a picture of what it will look like as well as knowing the realistic and attainable goals. The vision also helps in knowing the long-term interests of the employees and guidance on the decision-making goals of the organization. A clear vision for an organization helps in allowing individual initiative and the possibility of having alternatives especially when the conditions within the organization change. According to Kotter, the management of change within an organization is important for the planning and the control off the processes within the organization that are geared towards transforming the way it is run

Conflict in the Niger Delta Essay Example for Free

Conflict in the Niger Delta Essay The conflict happening in the Niger Delta stated in 1990. The tensions involve foreign oil corporation and members of some Niger Delta’s minority ethnic groups, particularly the Ogoni and the Ijaw. The instability continued from the 1990s until recently even though there are major changes in the government structure. The area surrounding the Delta is now heavily militarized by the Nigerian army and police forces, and numerous armed groups belonging to the ethnic groups (Barrett). According to the Center for International Development and Conflict Management (â€Å"Minorities at Risk. A Country Case Study†) violence and high crime rate is a common scenario in the Delta because of the stiff contest for oil. Government atrocities with civilian as victims are also recorded in the area. One of the most conflicted areas in the Delta is Oganiland. Located in the southeast of the Niger Delta, Oganiland is a region comprising 404-squale-mile of the area. Shell and Chevron set up their exploration and drilling facilities in the area upon the discovery of oil deposits in 1957. The rich oil deposit in Oganiland is considered as Nigeria’s first petroleum deposit for commercial purposes. During the exploration of the two largest foreign oil companies, government authorities and agents forced residents of the area to leave. This government-initiated forced evacuation on the area affected almost half a million ethnic minorities belonging to the group Ogonis and other ethnic groups (Agbu). They also attest that the government and the foreign oil companies did not conduct any consultation with them and offer any damages. Despite the strong opposition from the affected minorities, the federal government supported the atrocities by amending the Constitution that the government has the full ownership on all lands within Nigeria and compensation will be based on the crops and products located in the land during the taking and not the actual value of the land. These further allow the taking of foreign oil corporations on almost all of the lands in Oganiland with the help of the government (â€Å"Minorities at Risk. A Country Case Study. †). In the 1980s, the situation of Oganiland and the Oganis deteriorated economically, socially, politically and environmentally. Dissatisfaction and discontent among the people in Oganiland steadily mounts that in 1992 they formed the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). It became the main organization campaigning for various issues of the Oganis, primarily ethnic and environmental rights. MOSOP became the main opposition of the Nigerian government and foreign oil companies in Oganiland (Agbu). The conflict between MOSOP and oil companies escalated that it resulted to violence disrupting some of the oil companies’ major activities in the area. MOSOP required $10 billion as royalties since the companies started and for the degradation of the environment in Oganiland (Olusakin). However, according to Agbu (2004) the oil companies, Shell, Chevron and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, with the help of government authorities answered the MOSOP’s demand through violence also. Mass actions and protests started to occur in a daily basis in Oganiland that resulted the banning of public assembly by the government. It also pronounced as acts of treason any disturbances of oil production and related activities in the area. Militarization and repression rose in 1994 where in four village chiefs were murdered. The head of MOSOP, Ken Saro-Wira was detained because of the killings. Hundreds were also arbitrarily arrested and detained because of the killings. By June of the same year, there were almost 30 villages totally ruined, almost 2,000 deaths and leaving nearly 100,000 Oganis as internal refugees (Human Rights Watch). In 1994 Saro-Wira with other eight Ogani activist were arrested and sentenced to death. They are executed though hanging by the Nigerian government. The deaths of Saro-Wira and his companions enraged the people of Oganiland that resulted to more disruptive and violent actions against the oil companies. The militancy of the Oganis inspired other ethic groups to start their own struggle against the government and the foreign oil companies (Olusakin). The Ijaws organized the Ijaw National Congress and Ijaw youth organized the Ijaw Youth Congress. These two groups raise the political consciousness and militancy of the Ijaw people. They started to lay down their demands against the irresponsive central Nigerian government and to the foreign oil companies. They are asserting that these companies should have direct and concrete plans to uplift the lives of the people in the Niger Delta (Obi). Recently, armed and more militant groups like Niger Delta Peoples Vanguard (NDPV), Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF) and the Nigerian Delta Vigilante (NDV) were organized. Although these groups were formed because of the continuous environmental degradation, government neglect and social and political unrest in the area, they are now in conflict on varying ideologies and forms of actions (Obi). Most of them aim to gain control of the area’s rich oil resources. NDPVF and NDV are in conflict with each other. Violence between the groups rose resulting to disruptive activities in Port Harcourt, the Delta’s oil capital. Supporters of NDPVF transferred to NDV escalating more the conflict between the two groups (Agbu). After the local and national elections of 2003, NDPVF announced their all-out war against the government (Olusakin). However, MEND is closely affiliated with NDV. They reached their international reputation when they hijacked oil tankers crossing through the country and nearby countries. They arbitrarily detained workers in the tankers for months and demanding for ransom for their release. Last year, they attacked various oil installations and facilities of oil company Shell that resulted to oil price increase. They also attacked a facility of Chevron, forcing the company to halt operations in the region for that year (Obi). In 2005, the central government called the National Political reform Conference. Representatives of the Niger Delta raised various concerns on the development of the region. Numerous non-government and human rights organization have also called the attention of the central government to introduce reform in the region. There are proposals to divide the region into two, Eastern Niger Delta and Western Niger Delta, to make developmental projects easier to implement (Taylor). The ventral government should also convert new states in the region with at least one city in every state. Taylor (2007) said that federal offices and ministries should also set-up their branches in the region to make government services more accessible to ethnic minorities in the region. The government is also urged to enact legislations compelling oil companies to implement developmental projects in their host communities and strictly follow environmental laws. International civil society groups have also suggested that the central government implement policies to have more transparency in the revenues and fiscal matters on the oil industries. The Washington-based Human Rights Watch (2002) also strongly recommends that state security forces should be investigated and persecuted on their abuses on the civilians in the region (p. 5). The conflict in the region is already decade-old and seems will never end. The Nigerian government should seriously implement reforms and developmental projects in the region to alleviate poverty among its people. The more delay on these developments needed, the more people will be agitated to join the armed resistance fueled by inequality among the oil company and the ethnic minorities of the Niger Delta. Works Cited: Agbu, Osita. (2004). Ethnic Militias and the Threat to Democracy in Post-Transition Nigeria. Uppsala: Nordic African Institue. Barrett, Ejiroghene. â€Å"Why the Troubles in the Niger Delta. † New African 456 (2006): 40-45 â€Å"Minorities at Risk. A Country Case Study. † 2 April 2009. Center fro International Development and Conflict Management. http://cidcm. umd. edu. Olusakin, Ayoka Mopelala. â€Å"Peace in the Niger Delta: Economic Development and the Politics of Dependence on Oil. † International Journal on World Peace 23 (2006): 3 Obi, Cyril (1997). Globalization and Local Resistance: The Case of the Ogoni versus Shell. Ibadan: University of Ibadan. Obi, Cyril (2001). The Changing Forms of Identity Politics in Nigeria under Economic Adjustment: The Case of the Oil Minorities Movement of the Niger Delta. Uppsala: Nordic African Institute. Taylor, Darren. â€Å"Niger Delta and Lack of Infrastructure: Major Issues in Nigeria Elections. † Voice of America. 22 March 2007. 2 April 2009 http://www. voanews. com/english/ archive/2007-03/Niger-Delta-Conflict-and-Lack-of-Infrastructure-Major-Issues-in-Nigeria-Elections. cfm â€Å"The Niger Delta: No Democratic Dividend. † October 2002. Human Rights Watch. 2 April 2009. http://www. hrw. org/legacy/reports/2002/nigeria3/nigerdelta. pdf

A stereotype is defined by the Oxford Dictionary

A stereotype is defined by the Oxford Dictionary Every individual holds stereotypes. A stereotype is defined by the Oxford Dictionary of Psychology (pg. 730) as: a relatively fixed and oversimplified generalisation about a group or class of people, usually focusing on negative or unfavourable characteristics. When people put too much faith in stereotypical descriptions of people they can become prejudiced and can often discriminate against other groups. This can be very harmful and has led to countless atrocities, such as the racial purging of the Jews by the Nazis. Prejudices still are being fought through laws, such as Equal Opportunities legislation. However, the subject being discussed is not whether stereotypes are harmful or justifiable; it is whether they have a practical purpose, or are wasteful. It is generally the common consensus that stereotyping and prejudice should not continue. However without stereotypes we may find the social world a lot harder to perceive and understand. We rely on stereotypes to help us function in society. With such a diverse population, the environment we live in could be very confusing. Unfortunately stereotypes may block out a lot of what makes our society so diverse and just group people into simple categories. They may also affect peoples choices in life. Career paths people may want to take could seem inappropriate for someone in their group and so are avoided. From an evolutionary standpoint, stereotypes must have a use because they exist. People start creating stereotypes from a very young age and they are hard to break. However, having a purpose doesnt exclude the fact that stereotypes are wasteful. The main beneficial use of stereotypes is that they greatly speed up cognitive processing. The world is full of people, they all look unique and the all behave differently. If each person chose to actively perceive and evaluate every individual they encountered, there wouldnt be much time for anything else. This is why stereotypes exist. People can glance around a room, see a spectrum of faces and not have to stop to think about each person. This frees up the brain for more important tasks. Macrae, Milne, Bodenhausen (1994) as cited by Taylor, Peplau, Sears (pg. 184). conducted an experiment to see if the priming of stereotypes can leave the brain freer to process other information. Students were presented with a list of trait words for an individual and, at the same time, information about Indonesia. Half of these students were first given a group label for the individual, e.g. Black or Italian. Those given the group label remembered more traits that were label consistent and more information about Indonesia. This demonstrates that stereotypes make the social world a lot easier to process and are definitely very useful. However, this oversimplification of the world we see can lead us to prejudice against other groups, and can lead to discrimination. People often look only at the negative characteristics of a group. In doing this we may waste the important contributions that these different groups perspectives can offer. Taylor, Fiske, Eticoff, Ruderman (1978) as cited by Taylor et al. (pg. 185) asked participants to observe a conversation between people of a mix of races. When asked to remember which individual made certain contributions the participants would often only be able to remember the race of the individual. This shows that people often place far too much emphasis on group membership and can ignore the attributes of the individual. This can lead people to ignore information that comes from a source that they may deem inferior. The second beneficial use of stereotypes is their ability to increase individuals self esteem. Everyone has the desire to increase their self esteem and a lack of self esteem can lead to depression and social isolation. Stereotypes can improve an individuals self esteem through a number of ways. Tajfel (1982) as cited by Taylor et al. (pg. 188) proposed the Social Identity Theory. This is the process by which people categorise the social world into in-groups, in which the individual is a member, and out-groups, into which everyone else is categorised. People can derive their self esteem from their inclusion in the in-group if they perceive their group to be superior to other groups. This is theory is enhanced by Tajfel, Billig, Bundy, Flament, (1971) as cited by Taylor et al. (pg. 186) and their theory of In-group Favouritism. People will automatically positively discriminate towards their in-group, which promotes the view of a superior in-group. Also Ethnocentrism can play a part in promoting self esteem, through the assumption that the in-group is the centre of the social world and is superior to all out-groups. While many people may argue that deriving self esteem from the view of superiority is immoral, that is not the topic being discussed. High self esteem is an advantage to all people, and so any method for raising self esteem can be seen as useful. But this method for promoting self esteem does come with disadvantages. The Social Identity theory can have quite negative effects on peoples lives. If an individual holds a negative image of the in-group or the in-group is associated with a negative stereotype then this can be harmful to the individuals self esteem. Asgari, Dasgupta Gilbert Cote (2010) undertook a longitudinal study into how exposure to successful in-group members affected female students. They found that not only did the students have to have frequent contact with the role model, but they also had to have evaluated the contact to be meaningful. This however not only improved their self concept of their in-group; it also raised their career aspirations and their engagement in their studies. This in turn led to improved academic success. This study shows that victims of stereotyping can often believe those stereotypes so much that it takes repeated, powerful interaction with stereotype inconsistent individuals to feel that they too can break out of the stereotype they find themselves in . People that are exposed to negative stereotypes are also subject to stereotype threat. Stereotype threat was first proposed by Aronson and Steele (1995) and it occurs when members of a group find themselves subject to a negative stereotype. It results in the individual being aware that they are being stereotypically evaluated and so their performance, in areas associated with the stereotype, suffer. However, stereotype threat has been shown to spill over into many areas of everyday living. Being in a stigmatized group can contribute to a number of societal problems, such as aggression, obesity, decision making and impulse control (Inzlicht Kang. 2010). This serves to maintain the negative stereotype. However the study by Inzlicht and Kang was a correlation study, and so cause and effect could not be inferred. This is one example of how stereotypes can be self fulfilling prophecies. However they can also act in a positive direction. If a person is aware of a positive stereotype about them then they can have an improved performance. Shih, Pittinsky Ambady (1999) as cited by Taylor et al. (pg. 172) showed that Asian women performed better at a maths test when the Asian stereotype was cued. However they performed worse when the women stereotype was cued. These studies show how stereotypes can have a dramatic effect on our behaviour without any conscious action. Stereotyping can also have affects on career choices. Women exposed to primes of gender inconsistent roles (e.g. a female surgeon) showed lower enthusiasm for these roles because of upward social comparison threat (Rudman Phelan. 2010). They felt threatened by being outperformed by someone in their in-group. If women didnt believe that it was rare for women to be able to become a surgeon, they may not have felt this comparison threat. Also students are often choosing to not go into a career in sales because of their stereotypes about salesmen. (Lee, Sandfield Bhaliwal. 2007). Students think of salesmen as pushy and unsatisfied, hence they assume that if they were to go into sales then they would waste the time they spent on their degree. This cuts off a career path that may have been right for some students, but they choose not to take it because of the stereotypes they hold. So while stereotypes do have some definite uses, they also create waste. Stereotypes speed up cognitive processing, which is necessary for people to function in the diverse social environment in which we find ourselves. This is at the cost of the individual; we lose focus of each person and just push people into categories. Stereotypes can increase the self esteem of some. However not all can gain the benefit of this boost in social identity. Stereotype threat can have a very negative effect of peoples lives. Stereotypes can waste the potential of many people that have denied themselves, or have been denied through prejudice. Stereotypes have led to the needless waste of life in wars and through civil struggles for equality. Therefore, while stereotypes serve a purpose, they waste potential, information and happiness.

Writing as a Career Essay -- Informative

Many writers would like to categorize there reasons for being writers, and there are different reasons according to the kind of writing the writer does. The author can be viewed for the reasons of loving what they write about, then they could be viewed as one who likes to write novels, or bigger books, and then there is the ones who do it because it means a lot to their lifestyle. There are many reasons for becoming a writer, which are included in some of the authors’ thoughts. A writer is viewed as someone who is looking for subjects inquires, but not after what he loves best, but in what he thinks he loves at all (Dillard 1). Many writers wonder the reasons for which they write by wondering why, what, and how do they do it, but the writers like to write on part of the idea that they can share what they are doing at that very time and place, be it walking up and down in a little room or something similar (Kincaid 1). Although these two authors categorize there reasons for be ing writers in a similar fashion, they have some differences. There are some authors whom like to stay anonymous, when they do their work. They may appear to want their work to be anonymous, but by all fashion the work is later on published anyways (Sanders B4). Some authors can also view how writings has effected there lifestyles, because of their writing. There’s always a mystery behind the creative writing process, but it’s a boring mystery and some look at it differently (King 1). Some others believe that there writing in turn teaches others in multiple states and they can benefit from some of the hard-won benefits (Cubberly A4). There is always different reasoning behind authors’ ideas of writing, but these are many of the categori... ...ject of inquiries, but this would not be seen until they think about it (Dillard 1). Most of the writers wonder the reasons for which they write by thinking why, what and how do they write it. Some think about what they are doing everyday be it walking up and down in a room or something of that matter (Kincaid 1). Even with the amount of categorizes that you can place authors into they all have similarities, and differences. Some also would like to appear anonymous when they do their work (Sanders B4). But some wonder about the mysteries that hide behind the creative writing process, as it is a boring mystery for many but not to the author (King 1). This is how the authors could be categorized into the reasons in which the writers write about what they do, and how there are always differences between the authors themselves that can prove why authors are different.

Chemistry open book paper Essay

During radioactive decay, atoms of one element are changed into atoms of another element through the emission of alpha or beta particles from their unstable nuclei. With alpha decay the nucleus emits an alpha particle, which is essentially a helium nucleus; a group of two protons and two neutrons. It is a form of nuclear fission where the parent atom splits into two daughter products. The atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle and transforms (or ‘decays’) into an atom with a mass number 4 less and atomic number 2 less. For example: An alpha particle is the same as a helium-4 nucleus. Unlike beta decay, alpha decay is governed by the strong nuclear force. In beta decay, a neutron in the nucleus of an atom is converted into a proton and an electron. The electron is released as a beta particle. Below is the beta decay of Thorium to produce Protactinium. . In beta minus decay, the weak interaction converts a neutron into a proton while emitting an electron and an anti-neutrino. During beta-plus decay, a proton in an atom’s nucleus turns into a neutron, emitting a positron and a neutrino. Alpha rays can be blocked by a sheet of paper, shielding against beta rays needs a sheet of metal like aluminium. Nuclear fission differs from other forms of radioactive decay in that it can be harnessed and controlled via a chain reaction: free neutrons released by each fission event can trigger yet more events. Radioactive decay is spontaneous. Most nuclear fuels undergo spontaneous fission only very slowly. Nucleosynthesis in stars Hydrogen and helium are the most abundant elements in the universe. Elements heavier than lithium are all synthesized in stars. This first process of primordial nucleosynthesis may also be called nucleogenesis. In the Sun hydrogen is converted to helium in nuclear fusion reactions: 41H 4He + subatomic particles During the late stages of stellar evolution, massive stars burn helium to carbon, oxygen, silicon, sulphur, and iron. The production of small amounts of hydrogen and helium nuclei makes it possible for the star to synthesise most of the elements in the first three periods of the Periodic table. Two routes for the generation of lithium are: Route 1: 4He + 3H   7Li Route 2: 4He + 3He   7Be 7Be + electron 7Li The second route is interesting; this is because it is a form of electron capture. This is where the collision between an atom and an electron causes the proton to convert to a neutron and a neutrino is released. It is sometimes called inverse beta decay, the proton number and the structure of the nucleus is changed. Fission and Fusion Nuclear fission is the splitting of the nucleus of an atom into lighter nuclei often producing free neutrons and other smaller nuclei. The emission of these neutrons can cause further fission in other nuclei, thus producing a chain reaction. Fission of heavy elements is an exothermic reaction which can release large amounts of energy both as electromagnetic radiation and as kinetic energy of the fragments. Below is an example of nuclear fission, showing Uranium-235 splitting to create strontium-90 and xenon-143: Inside the reactor of an atomic power plant, Uranium atoms are split apart in a controlled chain reaction. This chain reaction gives off heat energy. This heat energy is used to boil water in the core of the reactor. So, instead of burning a fuel, nuclear power plants use the chain reaction of atoms splitting to change the energy of atoms into heat energy. This water from around the nuclear core is sent to another section of the power plant. Here, in the heat exchanger, it heats another set of pipes filled with water to make steam. The steam in this second set of pipes turns a turbine to generate electricity. Uranium-238 is used as a natural way to control the reaction due to the fact that it does not undergo fission. Two other mechanisms used for controlling the reaction are the graphite moderator and the control rods, which are made of boron coated steel. The neutrons that are produced when a nucleus splits are very fast moving; the graphite slows them down enough so that they cause fission reactions when they collide with Uranium-235 nuclei. The control rods which are made of Boron which absorb neutrons; they can be moved in and out of the reactor to control the rate of fission reactions. A typical absorption reaction is: Below is a cross section of the inside of a typical nuclear power plant: Notable advantages of fission include the fact that relatively little fuel is needed and the fuel is relatively inexpensive and available in trace amounts around the world. Also, it is not believed to contribute to global warming or other pollution effects associated with fossil fuel combustion. However, its major concerns include the possibility for a nuclear meltdown; an example could be the Chernobyl Disaster. Also, waste products can be used to manufacture weapons; waste from plutonium power stations remains dangerous for thousands of years. There is also high initial cost because the plant requires containment safeguards; even then, the power plants are still vulnerable from sabotage and attacks. Nuclear fusion is the process by which multiple atomic particles join together to form a heavier nucleus. It is accompanied by the release or absorption of energy. The fusion of two nuclei lighter than iron or nickel generally releases energy. Below is an example of a fusion reaction: Excess energy is released from the fusion reaction because of the lower binding energy of the helium nuclei compared to those in deuterium and tritium. The combined mass of the products is less than the mass of the reactants; the ‘lost’ mass is converted to energy, according to Einstein’s equation: E=mc2 For the below reaction to occur the particles need to form a high-density, super hot, ionized gas – plasma. 2H + 3H i 4He + 1n Tritium is produced by using lithium in the reactor, where neutrons from the deuterium-tritium reaction in the plasma will react with the lithium to produce more tritium: 6Li + 1n i 4He + 3H A way to control the plasma is to keep it away from the walls, which minimizes heat loss. To do this a tokamak is used. This device contains hot plasma in a doughnut shape within a vacuum vessel. Powerful magnetic fields created by large coils that run around the vessel keep the plasma away from the walls. Powerful electric currents heat the plasma as well as by microwaves that are directed into it and beams of fast neutron particles. Notable advantages to using nuclear fusion include the fact that there is significantly less chance of a fatal accident occurring than that of a fission reactor, because the fuel contained in the reaction chamber is only enough to sustain the reaction for about a minute. Also, Deuterium and tritium are virtually inexhaustible. Unlike fission reactors, whose waste remains dangerous for thousands of years, most of the radioactive material in a fusion reactor would remain dangerous for about 50-100 years. At present the disadvantage is merely the fact that scientists have not yet been able to contain a fusion reaction long enough for there to be a net energy gain. This is, in turn, causing many countries to phase out fusion research because of the failure to reach a breakthrough. Challenges to the future of fusion power stations The main challenge that scientists face is the growth of hydrocarbon films. Where plasma touches the walls, carbon tiles are eroded by deuterium and tritium ions, producing hydrocarbons. Further reactions result in the formation of reactive radicals, which combine with each other to form hydrocarbon films. These films cause problems because they trap the tritium and deuterium fuel ions in the walls of the device so that they are not circulating in the reacting plasma to produce any energy. Also if the film gets thicker, it begins to flake off, resulting in dust particles which can be absorbed into the plasma, affecting its purity and performance. Other issues include the potentially prohibitive costs of building, and the difficulties of repairing and maintaining the reaction vessel. This massive â€Å"blanket† of lithium and rare metals will degrade and become radioactive over time, requiring regular dismantling and replacement. No. Words – 357+368+294+145 = 1164 (excluding equations, titles, annotations and text in diagrams) – sorry! Sources http://www. answers. com/topic/nucleosynthesis? cat=technology – Nucleosynthesis http://helios. gsfc. nasa. gov/nucleo. html – Nucleosynthesis http://physics. bu. edu/py106/notes/RadioactiveDecay.html – Alpha and beta equations http://map. gsfc. nasa. gov/universe/bb_tests_ele. html – Nucleosynthesis http://chemed. chem. purdue. edu/genchem/topicreview/bp/ch23/modes. php. Alpha and Beta decay http://media. nasaexplores. com/lessons/01-060/images/Uran235. jpg – Fission of uranium-235 http://hyperphysics. phy-astr. gsu. edu/Hbase/nucene/fusion. html – Nuclear fusion http://www. iter-india. res. in/images/jet_tokamak. jpg. Tokamak image, Fig 5 http://www. newscientist. com/channel/fundamentals/dn8827-no-future-for-fusion-power-says-top-scientist. html – Problems for fusion power http://eazyvg. linuxoss.com/2007/08/21/fusion-is-the-future-choice-for-nuclear-power-generation/ – Fission and fusion diagrams, advantages and disadvantages of fission and fusion. Fig 1 and 3 http://www. physlink. com/Education/AskExperts/ae534. cfm – Bond energy per nucleon, Fig 5 Article 1 – Box 1 – pg3 Article 1 – Second paragraph under â€Å"Nuclear fission† – pg4-5 Article 1 – Box 2 – Used for finding out control mechanisms – pg6 Article 2 – Advantages of fusion power, ways it produces energy – pg8 Article 2 – Box 2 – Lithium generation and equations – pg9 Article 2 – Box 2 – Fusion reactions – pg10 Article 2 – Tokamak, problems facing scientists – pg10.