Can the heavier elements be created in smaller stars like our Sun?

You can’t make them from stellar reactions involving elements like carbon or above, since those only create heavier elements, not lighter ones. In fact, you can’t make the first of the heavier-than-helium elements in stars at all.

What happens to the protons in plasma during nuclear fusion?

Fusion is the process occurring within the plasma core of our Sun in which the nuclei of lighter atoms link to form a heavier atom. The fusion of hydrogen to form helium is a proton–proton chain reaction.

What is the element transformation happening in the Sun?

In the core of the Sun hydrogen is being converted into helium. This is called nuclear fusion. It takes four hydrogen atoms to fuse into each helium atom. During the process some of the mass is converted into energy.

What is the heaviest element that our sun will ever create?

Eventually, slow fusion of the heliun and carbon will cause the dying sun to produce its heaviest element: oxygen. The carbon-oxygen core will burn out, leaving fusion impossible. Heavier and larger stars may fuse the carbon into oxygen, and so on until they start producing iron.

What happens to the largest mass stars?

The largest mass stars may become black holes The highest mass star has a core that shrinks to a point. On the way to total collapse it may momentarily create a neutron star and the resulting supernova rebound explosion.

How does fusion work in the Sun?

Fusion is the process that powers the sun and the stars. It is the reaction in which two atoms of hydrogen combine together, or fuse, to form an atom of helium. In the process some of the mass of the hydrogen is converted into energy. The sun and stars do this by gravity.

How does nuclear fusion work in the Sun?

The Sun shines because it is able to convert energy from gravity into light. This is what happens to the hydrogen gas in the core of the Sun. It gets squeeze together so tightly that four hydrogen nuclei combine to form one helium atom. This is called nuclear fusion.

What keeps the Sun going?

It’s a massive collection of gas, mostly hydrogen and helium. Because it is so massive, it has immense gravity, enough gravitational force to hold all of that hydrogen and helium together (and to hold all of the planets in their orbits around the sun).

What elements will the Sun produce?

The sun currently fuses hydrogen into helium.

Eventually, slow fusion of the heliun and carbon will cause the dying sun to produce its heaviest element: oxygen.

Heavier and larger stars may fuse the carbon into oxygen, and so on until they start producing iron.

How does the Sun get its mass?

We know that the sun shines via nuclear reactions in the core that transform four hydrogen atoms into one helium atom. If you look at a periodic table, you will see that one helium atom has a little less mass than four hydrogen atoms combined; about 0.7\% of the original mass has “disappeared”.

How does the sun affect the earth’s surface?

The sun also emits energized particles (neutrinos, protons) that make up the solar wind. This energy strikes Earth, where it warms the planet, drives our weather and provides energy for life. We aren’t harmed by most of the radiation or solar wind because the Earth’s atmosphere protects us. The Sun’s Interior: Radiative and Convective Zones

What happens to the energy in the Sun’s core?

It is converted into energy in the sun’s core. The energy moves outward through the interior layers, into the sun’s atmosphere, and is released into the solar system as heat and light. In the sun’s core, gravitational forces create tremendous pressure and temperatures.

How much energy does the Sun give off?

The time for this to occur is roughly the total energy the sun has that can be turned into light, divided by the rate at which the sun is giving off energy, or: The rate at which the sun emits energy (its luminosity) is around 3.8 x 10 26 Watts (that’s the number 38 followed by 25 zeroes – quite a lot of lightbulbs!).