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[smeeprocket]

Basically, what you got there is the overall formulae. Inside a star, multiple reactions occur, and in the relevant case, those are the start and end resources.

Basically what happens is that you got 4 Hydrogen-1 atoms* fusing, creating 1 atom of Helium-4**, as well as releasing 2 positrons***, 2 gamma ray photons, and 2 neutrinos. The energy noted at the end is simply the energy that is released by this reaction.


*Most common isotope of hydrogen, to the point that the name is barely used.
**Most common helium atom
***antimatter equivalent of the electron. It is annihilated near instantly.

I hate to sound stupid, but this went way over my head though I feel it was probably a good explanation.

I know it sounds dumb to want this tattoo if I don't understand it. Basically, It is the beauty of the reaction, the thing that allows our planet to be as it is, but also that it is a basic driving force in many stars. It seems the fusion in our own star is the most relevant one.

Um, just wondering, what would be mental illness that prevents you from working? Sorry if I'm being too nosy.

NVM too much info

[Radio Controlled]

I heartily recommend doing some research on your own online. From what I've seen from this thread, it seems you don't have a solid physics background yet, which is not a problem at all, but it'll be difficult to explain anything if you don't know basic concepts and such. And if you are just searching for a basic 'layman's terms' explanation, there are a lot of sources online. Also, wikipedia is great, as always.

http://physics.info/fusion/
http://physics.info/nucleosynthesis/
https://openstaxcollege.org/textbooks/college-physics
And so forth. there's a ton of info easily available online.

So basically, Google is your friend.

[smjjames]

Basically, what you got there is the overall formulae. Inside a star, multiple reactions occur, and in the relevant case, those are the start and end resources.

Basically what happens is that you got 4 Hydrogen-1 atoms* fusing, creating 1 atom of Helium-4**, as well as releasing 2 positrons***, 2 gamma ray photons, and 2 neutrinos. The energy noted at the end is simply the energy that is released by this reaction.


*Most common isotope of hydrogen, to the point that the name is barely used.
**Most common helium atom
***antimatter equivalent of the electron. It is annihilated near instantly.

I hate to sound stupid, but this went way over my head though I feel it was probably a good explanation.

I know it sounds dumb to want this tattoo if I don't understand it. Basically, It is the beauty of the reaction, the thing that allows our planet to be as it is, but also that it is a basic driving force in many stars. It seems the fusion in our own star is the most relevant one.

Um, just wondering, what would be mental illness that prevents you from working? Sorry if I'm being too nosy.

NVM too much info

I read it before it got deleted. I won't judge you for it, just so you know since you were concerned about the reactions. My younger sister has bipolar (or a similar mood disorder, might not actually be bipolar) and is able to work, but I guess she has a mild form of it and everybodys different.

[smeeprocket]

I heartily recommend doing some research on your own online. From what I've seen from this thread, it seems you don't have a solid physics background yet, which is not a problem at all, but it'll be difficult to explain anything if you don't know basic concepts and such. And if you are just searching for a basic 'layman's terms' explanation, there are a lot of sources online. Also, wikipedia is great, as always.

http://physics.info/fusion/
http://physics.info/nucleosynthesis/
https://openstaxcollege.org/textbooks/college-physics
And so forth. there's a ton of info easily available online.

So basically, Google is your friend.

yea I just want to be sure the info I get is correct, also. I will check out those links.

Basically, what you got there is the overall formulae. Inside a star, multiple reactions occur, and in the relevant case, those are the start and end resources.

Basically what happens is that you got 4 Hydrogen-1 atoms* fusing, creating 1 atom of Helium-4**, as well as releasing 2 positrons***, 2 gamma ray photons, and 2 neutrinos. The energy noted at the end is simply the energy that is released by this reaction.


*Most common isotope of hydrogen, to the point that the name is barely used.
**Most common helium atom
***antimatter equivalent of the electron. It is annihilated near instantly.

I hate to sound stupid, but this went way over my head though I feel it was probably a good explanation.

I know it sounds dumb to want this tattoo if I don't understand it. Basically, It is the beauty of the reaction, the thing that allows our planet to be as it is, but also that it is a basic driving force in many stars. It seems the fusion in our own star is the most relevant one.

Um, just wondering, what would be mental illness that prevents you from working? Sorry if I'm being too nosy.

NVM too much info

I read it before it got deleted. I won't judge you for it, just so you know since you were concerned about the reactions. My younger sister has bipolar (or a similar mood disorder, might not actually be bipolar) and is able to work, but I guess she has a mild form of it and everybodys different.

My grandmother worked as a journalist until she was fired for getting married. My dad struggled with work his whole life until he retired. I can't work at all anymore. The only upside is I have had to face my illness, rather than push it down so that it festers. My illness also ultimately "evolved" to schizoeffective  bipolar, which means I also have traits of schizophrenia.

[smjjames]

Your grandma got fired for getting married? Attitudes were definetly different back then.

Anyways, like I said, I won't judge you just because you have bipolar.

[Sheb]

Yeah, researching the subject before getting a tatoo is a must. It reminds me of a former GF of mine who got a tatoo of oxytocin. Except she somehow got a representation of the molecule at a pH far from the physiological one. I had a lot of fun with that one.

[smeeprocket]

yea which is why I'm trying to get as much input as possible. I remember when I worked at a tattoo parlour, we had flash we never used in the back with the chinese alphabet. There is no such thing. I wonder how many people have gone to parlours and gotten something like that.

[Phmcw]

Anyway, there are several reaction going on, that ultimately end up with Helium 4.

A quick explaination : as you probably know, the kernel of an atom is composed of neutron and of protons. The number of protons give you the element (one proton is hydrogen, two is Helium, three is lithium, six is carbon...). The number of neutron may vary, but every elements have one stable version with a precise number of neutrons. Two kernels with the same number of protons and a different numbers of neutrons are called isotopes.

For instance you've heard of carbon 14 who is a radioactive isotope of carbon whose stable version is carbon 16. Carbon 14 has six protons and 8 neutrons, carbon 16 has 6 protons too and 10 neutrons.

So that's the main thing to know about atoms nucleus. Now about fusion, it's when two kernel colides and produce a new atom while releasing energy. As only two such kernel will interact, there are a lot of different reaction that end up with helium 4 as a result. It's two Hydrogen 1 that make one hydrogen 2 while releasing an electron, then one hydrogen one and one hydrogen two that make helium 3 then two helim 3 that collide and make an helium 4 while releasing two protons. All those reaction also release various small particles at high speeds.
Here's the wiki article about that chain.

Instead of tatooing it at once, I'd advice you to get feynam's courses in physics and undertanding them first. Also it'd be much cooler to tattoo feynam's diagrams representation o those interaction (but understanding them even slightly would take a few more years of work after you master his basic courses).

[palsch]

Instead of tatooing it at once, I'd advice you to get feynam's courses in physics and undertanding them first. Also it'd be much cooler to tattoo feynam's diagrams representation o those interaction (but understanding them even slightly would take a few more years of work after you master his basic courses).

Erm, really? There's a saying about Feynman's lectures. You read them and feel a deep understanding of the topic. Then you try to solve a problem and realise you aren't Feynman. I loved his lectures on QED. Then I took some quantum mechanics classes and realised they didn't help at all. Oh, they made more sense when you went back, but for a beginner you have the 6 Pieces books and I wouldn't recommend anything more. It's great fun once you know the stuff, but not where you start.

I also tend to find books on their own a horrible way to learn a completely new topic, especially one as complex as modern physics. You are basically saying don't bother, right?


Also the main reason I'm not a fan of that equation is it doesn't represent to me stellar fusion. It's a part of it, but not illustrative or even particularly important to my mind. It ignores the fun part and is a crude representation of a more complex system.

[smeeprocket]

what DOES represent stellar fusion to you?

[Phmcw]

You are basically saying don't bother, right?

No he's doing it on his own and he have years. They are fun books and endearing and when you master them (with the help of other books), well you really understand basic physics.

[palsch]

what DOES represent stellar fusion to you?

In my opinion there is no one clear symbol.

For me, most fusion is better described by the magnetohydrodynamics of plasmas than the reactions themselves and the incredibly elegant but complex equations and diagrams that come from that would be my primary symbols of fusion.

However, stars to me are about stellar evolution and gravitational compression balanced by the energy released by fusion. The balance between those two forces (keeping the fusion burning at a continuous, low level for millennia) is more elegant than either of them on their own, and the complete model of stellar evolution is more illustrative of life, the universe and everything than any one instance within it. The production of heavy elements in late series stars, etc.

But I don't think I could reduce either of these topics into an elegant tattoo ever. I'd either go for something far more fundamental (and I don't see that particular fusion equation as being particularly fundamental) or something more personally meaningful. If it was about the fusion than something from electromagnetism, probably one of the ideal MHD equations. If it were about the stellar side then either a cross section of a star, a coronal mass ejectino or a diagram of stellar evolution itself, somehow.

I'm happy to go into any topics you are interested in, but it's a vast topic and my personal interests and preferences (and yes, aesthetics) are likely to play into it. I'm a MCF fan which biases me towards the plasma and balance side of things. The actual fusion interactions are less interesting - important even - than the mechanics that make them possible and cause them to continue for thousands of years.

No he's doing it on his own and he have years. They are fun books and endearing and when you master them (with the help of other books), well you really understand basic physics.

Not really. You would be much better off starting with an actual introductory physics textbook (there are a wealth of options, but I can personally vouch for Young and Freedman and have ready good things about Matter and Interaction) then specialist books for various topics. Feynman can make you feel like you understand more often than he can actually help you understand on a level that lets you work with the topic in the future. Which is a same because he is great fun to read and more or less got me to take the degree I did.

BTW, anyone looking for books/recommendations can PM me. I might be able to help out a bit.

[smeeprocket]

well, with regard to your suggestions, this is for a face tattoo below the right eye, I don't want to tattoo my entire face with a cross section of a star for example.

The equation seemed like it would fit best. Also, white tattoo ink isn't going to express anything multi-layered like that.