How Does Iron Man's Arc Reactor Work?

Iron Man is perhaps the most prolific superhero engineer there is. Literally at the core of Tony Stark sits one of the most impressive engineering feats of the entire comic book and movie series: a reactor core. While it may not exist in reality (yet), let’s look at some of the engineering needed to make it happen.

Iron Man’s reactor is essentially a fusion reactor that harnesses energy by removing electrons from Hydrogen atoms. This removal of electrons creates an ion plasma which is the ultimate source of the energy. What makes the miniature reactor both so incredible as well as breathtaking is twofold. One: the energy source is in all practical senses, endless. Sustained fusion reactions of Hydrogen atoms on a small scale is enough to power a block of homes for their sustainable lifetime. Two: the technology is actually a possibility, and MIT believes that a real Iron Man reactor will be created before 2025.

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Music:

Cavalry

[outta_time_man]

Plot twist: Iron Man's reactor is actually 21ft wide, it's just everyone in the movie is 300ft tall

[thisdeath]

"How Does Iron Man's Arc Reactor Work"
Marvel: *Quantum Physics*

[Supaslasher]

1:04 It will be made by 2025.
In 2010 (iron man 2) Tony said everyone was behind by 15 years and he was correct.😃

[GeorgeCowsert]

Ya know, the 21 ft reactor is exactly what I expected when I clicked on this video.

It's official that the original Arc Reactor was around this size; Tony just used his genius to somehow miniaturize it.

Given that we don't need to power Iron Man suits (yet), I'd say this'll be sufficient enough.

[dianadiaz]

Video: Arc reactor is impossible

Hacksmith: Hold my beer

[divyaandhanak]

That’s basically the original reactor the his father built

[hansad.k]

I think we'd be able to see a Howard Stark rather than a Tony Stark in the near future

[lonergothonline]

I recently found out that the ark reactor tony uses is based off of technology his father was tinkering with, basically, Zola in Captain America, harnessed the power of the infinity stones' casing, not the infinity stone itself, to make batteries which powered the weapons hydra's infantry used, that tony's father got a hold of. in other words, just like in reality, stable fusion reaction requires undiscovered exotic material.

[ace]

I'm fairly sure that the Arc Reactor is NOT in fact a fusion reactor. The original was created by Howard Stark after he studied the Tesseract, which is just a container for the Space Stone, so I think the best case could be made that the Arc Reactor is harvesting energy from space itself. Which would also neatly explain why Iron Man remains a big deal even when the MCU moved to a galactic scale.

[albertjackinson]

But there's one problem: that arc reactor generates A LOT of waste heat...TONS.

[bags]

No one:
Absolutely no one:
Tony: i want cheeseburger first...

[christcarsandcountry]

All attempts at reactors so far: Failure.

Obadiah: *angry box of scraps noises*

[rion]

TONY STARK WAS ABLE TO BUILD THIS IN A CAVE.... WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!!








I am an insult to society, and it’s your problem now ;3

[anthonybaransky]

Please explain how hydrogen electrons are removed from their host atom AND how does that process create plasma? I would be grateful if any explanation would be shared😊

[archetype]

I have an idea for a "arc reactor" one that converts gamma into electrical potential...

The idea would be to flood a chamber of highly compressed radon full of artificially created neutrons, causing more collisions, thus increasing the radiation emission. The vessel would likely be surrounded by something that reflects neutrons in all directions except one, like beryllium, boron alloy. The beryllium would be useful for neutron emission as well… when beryllium atoms are hit with alpha radiation, neutrons are emitted.

(Highly efficient neutron guns maybe or fusors as they can emit 10^9 neutrons per second can be used for artificial neutron sources)

I think if a device like this were optimized, a source strong enough for efficient energy capture could be devised.

As for capturing the radiation and converting it to electricity, i would use methylammonium lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3) it can fulfill this purpose quite well according to scientists at EPFL, they claim 75% charge-collection efficiency in millimeter-sized crystals. The material also turns photons (light) into energy. According to them the material exhibits low degradation as well while in use.

75% efficiency. Very possible. Seems viable, funny that nobody has attempted to make a full generator like this and most in the industry thinks it impossible. The big problem with this idea is that it would be so radioactive, anyone near would be beyond dead.

[barathraj]

I need to know about the second type arc reactor where he uses a particle accelerator to start the reactor 🤔

[Phil-D]

The laws of thermodynamics, given it's small size, means it would get so hot that it would melt through its housing.

[nebchazzar]

M.I.T.: Should be able to make it by 202-
Hacksmith: Hold my lightsaber

[Vasharan]

It would have made more sense for the arc reactor to have been a zero point field or casimir effect generator, because we never see Tony refuel it with hydrogen/helium, nor is regular hydrogen a particularly good fuel source for fusion (deuterium or tritium much more efficient, and where would he get those in a cave in Afghanistan?).
EDIT: granted, he had a lot of spare Stark missiles that he had to work with, so he might have had a good source of tritium. But the waste heat would be a major problem for a fusion reactor.

[benwillems]

A few weeks ago I read that they finally managed to sustain a fusion reaction long enough that they got out more energy than the startup process put in.