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LESSON 2

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3 views

LESSON 2

Uploaded by

Sarah Neri
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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LESSON 2: We Are All Made of Star Stuff (Formation of the Heavy Elements)

Carl Sagan found it remarkable that the elements we find on Earth are also those we find among the
stars. In addition, we find that most of what we know as matter was made by processes inside stars
themselves.

Stellar Nucleosynthesis 1

Hydrogen and helium nuclei in stars began combining in nuclear fusion reactions once hydrogen-
helium stars had formed from the action of gravity.

• Note: nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined
to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles (neutrons or
protons).

This releases a tremendous amount of light, heat, and radioactive energy. Fusion resulted in the
formation of nuclei of new elements. These reactions inside stars are known as stellar
nucleosynthesis.

• Note: stellar nucleosynthesis is the formation (nucleosynthesis) of chemical elements


by nuclear fusion reactions within stars.

Deuterium (D or 2H) forms from proton fusion, with one proton turning into a neutron via beta-plus
decay, giving off a neutrino and a positron:

Step 1: 1H + 1H → 2H + ν + e+
Step 2: 2H + 1H → 3He + γ

Step 3: 3He + 3He → 4He + 2(1H)

3
He forms from deuterium and proton fusion, also known as deuterium burning. This immediately
consumes all deuterium produced.
4
He forms from the fusion of two 3He nuclei
P-P Chain Reaction
1
H + 1H → 2H + ν + e+
2
H + 1H → 3He + γ
3
He + 3He → 4He + 2(1H)

Note: the proton–proton chain, also commonly referred to as the p–p chain, is one of two known
sets of nuclear fusion reactions by which stars convert hydrogen to helium.

The energy released is responsible for the thermal pressure that pushes against gravity. It is also
responsible for the light, heat and radiation emitted by the star. A different process facilitates
hydrogen fusion in main-sequence stars with temperature greater than 15 million Kelvin.

Main-sequence stars hotter than 15 million K (or more than 1.3 times as massive as the Sun) could
facilitate the production of helium once carbon was present from alpha processes. This happens
through a process where 12C is used as a catalyst known as the carbon fusion cycle or the CNO cycle.
This process involves repeated proton capture and beta-plus decay.

• Note: the CNO cycle (for carbon–nitrogen–oxygen) is one of the two known sets of fusion
reactions by which stars convert hydrogen to helium, the other being the proton–proton
chain reaction (p–p cycle), which is more efficient at the Sun's core temperature.

Stellar Nucleosynthesis 2

The core of a star becomes comprised of He, as H is depleted, while H fusion only occurs in a shell
around it. Due to this process, the temperature and density of the core of the star increases up to
100 million Kelvin. The star’s thermal pressure causes it to push out H gas. The star balloons into a
red giant.

Several nuclear fusion processes occur in a red giant aside from hydrogen fusion. The first is the
triple alpha process. Alpha particles refer to 4He. This reaction involves the fusion of three 4He nuclei
in the following steps:
4
He + 4He → 8Be
8
Be + 4He → 12C + γ

Note that the 8Be intermediate is unstable, so either it decays or forms 12C.

• Note: the triple-alpha process is a set of nuclear fusion reactions by which three helium-4
nuclei (alpha particles) are transformed into carbon.
The star can keep growing into a supergiant as it accumulates mass. Alpha fusion processes continue
in the core via the alpha ladder. More and more alpha particles are fused to create heavier elements
all the way to Fe (iron), making the core and star itself more massive.

• Note: the alpha process, also known as the alpha ladder, is one of two classes of nuclear
fusion reactions by which stars convert helium into heavier elements, the other being the
triple-alpha process.

• The triple-alpha process consumes only helium, and produces carbon. After enough carbon
has accumulated, further reactions occur via the alpha ladder.

Supernova Nucleosynthesis

Finally, a star will eventually be unable to generate energy to push against gravity due to the
formation of heavier elements, thus causing it to collapse on itself. It then undergoes a supernova
explosion that releases a tremendous amount of energy enough to synthesize elements heavier than
iron.

Examples of these elements are uranium and thorium, which are some of the heaviest known
elements. This is done through the r-process that involves rapid capture of neutrons by the atom.
Other heavy elements are also synthesized through s-process involving slow neutron capture in red
giants.

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