Nuclear Fusion and the Remains of a Dead Star
Throughout the history of Earth, multicellular organisms rely on one thing, the sun. And throughout the observable universe, there are million of stars out there just like our sun. These stars could be different however, with either more mass, volume, heat, etc. In our high school career, we learn a lot about astronomy, such as the order of the planets in our solar system. We also learn about gravity, rotation of planets, and how long it takes for light to travel. However, we never look on one of the most interesting thing in our universe, stars, and how they function. At first, it may seem simple but as we look more depth into it, it is truly unique.
Stars are in a constant fight between …show more content…
Well, heat, a type of energy, is produced through nuclear fusion. Throughout a star’s life, nuclear fusion is what produces heat to prevent itself from collapsing. However, this process of nuclear fusion ends at some point and the force of gravity overpowers the force from nuclear fusion, causing the star to collapse (“Fusion”).
Nuclear fusion is when two atom’s nucleus is combined to make a new atom. However, this process take extreme amount of energy since the nucleuses will always try to push each other away since they both have a positive charge. However, in the core of the star there is enough temperature and pressure that actually enables the reaction to take place, outputting …show more content…
For each heavier element it will take more pressure and energy to produce the product of the reaction. Hydrogen fusion makes helium. Helium fusion will produce carbon. Carbon fusion reactions doesn 't occur for lower mass stars, such as the sun, because there isn’t enough pressure and energy. Once all of the elements become carbon, the production of heat and energy is stopped, and the star collapses. However for stars with a much larger mass, around eight times the mass of our
Throughout the history of Earth, multicellular organisms rely on one thing, the sun. And throughout the observable universe, there are million of stars out there just like our sun. These stars could be different however, with either more mass, volume, heat, etc. In our high school career, we learn a lot about astronomy, such as the order of the planets in our solar system. We also learn about gravity, rotation of planets, and how long it takes for light to travel. However, we never look on one of the most interesting thing in our universe, stars, and how they function. At first, it may seem simple but as we look more depth into it, it is truly unique.
Stars are in a constant fight between …show more content…
Well, heat, a type of energy, is produced through nuclear fusion. Throughout a star’s life, nuclear fusion is what produces heat to prevent itself from collapsing. However, this process of nuclear fusion ends at some point and the force of gravity overpowers the force from nuclear fusion, causing the star to collapse (“Fusion”).
Nuclear fusion is when two atom’s nucleus is combined to make a new atom. However, this process take extreme amount of energy since the nucleuses will always try to push each other away since they both have a positive charge. However, in the core of the star there is enough temperature and pressure that actually enables the reaction to take place, outputting …show more content…
For each heavier element it will take more pressure and energy to produce the product of the reaction. Hydrogen fusion makes helium. Helium fusion will produce carbon. Carbon fusion reactions doesn 't occur for lower mass stars, such as the sun, because there isn’t enough pressure and energy. Once all of the elements become carbon, the production of heat and energy is stopped, and the star collapses. However for stars with a much larger mass, around eight times the mass of our