Fusion Within

S T E L L Stars
A R N U C L E
 Definitions
• Stellar Nucleosynthesis: The formation of
heavy elements by the fusion of lighter nuclei
in the hearts of stars.
• Atom: “The smallest component of an element
having the chemical properties of that
element” [1]
• Proton: A positively charged subatomic particle.
• Electron: A negatively charged subatomic
particle.
• Positron (e+): The antimatter equivalent of an
electron.
• Electron Neutrino(νe ) : Elementary particles with
almost no mass, created as a byproduct of
neutron/proton transformation
• Nucleon: “a constituent (proton or neutron) of an
atomic nucleus”[2]
• Isotopes: “Different forms of atoms of the same
 Isotopes
1H
of H
AKA Protium; the most common H isotope, consists
of a single proton in it’s nucleus.
²H AKA Deuterium; has a neutron and a proton in it’s
nucleus.
³H AKA Tritium has a proton and 2 neutrons.

^ An atom and
it’s components
(we assume)
 Maths 
• Fusion happens because the star’s gas is
compressed and heated under huge
gravitational processes.
• This allows matter within to overcome the
Coloumb Barrier, the force that pushes
like charges apart.
• Hydrogen nuclei fuse into helium. The output
helium has a smaller mass than the input
hydrogen, the "missing" mass appears as
energy, according to Einstein's famous
equation E = mc^2. More energy is
released than is expended.
• The net result of building one new helium
atom is the release of
 8
8

drostatic Equilibrium
At equilibrium


temperature, energy
pushing OUT
balances gravity
pulling IN
• If central temperature
drops, energy As the outer layers press the
core inwards, central temperature
generation rises back towards its original
decreases value ...
Fusion rates increase, with more
• Gas pressure pushingenergy produced
outwards decreasesGas pressure pushing outwards
• Gravity pulls outer increases
Causes the outer layers to move
layers inwards back towards their original
• As the outer layers position
Same happens inversely if the
press the core star expands too much
• This is how a star remains the same
for aeons.
• When the star cannot retain this
equilibrium anymore it will change
in size and pressure.
• This causes it to fuse different
elements as it finds equilibrium
again.
• If it cannot generate a state of
equilibrium again, gravity wins and
it dies!
•
STELLAR LIFE CYCLE 

[4 ]
• The two main cycles, P-P and CNO
fuse hydrogen to helium, and
compete with each other. These occur
in main sequence stars, such as the
Sun.
• The next two cycles convert helium to
• After helium density becomes too low
stars begin the carbon burning
process, increasing in size to become
a red giant.
• Once the Carbon density falls too low,
gravitational forces fail. Stars of a size
4 to 8 times our sun eject most of
their shell, leaving behind a white
dwarf core
• White dwarfs can pack mass
comparable to the sun’s into an area
1,000,000 times smaller.
• White dwarfs produce no new fusion
reactions and cool into black dwarfs
over millions of years. It’s thought
many are comprised of a Carbon and
 Fusion In More
Massive Stars
( supergiants )
Supergiants are
stars with enough
mass to create
pressure and
temperatures to fuse
more and more
The core cools and the elements.
star condenses in size. Fusion in larger
More mass in a smaller stars than this is
space = more force more complex and is a
exerted upon the atoms cumulative process.
within; neon burning can Scientists don’t
begin. completely agree on
what happens...
• During neon burning, oxygen and
magnesium accumulate in the central
core while neon is consumed. After a
few years the star consumes all its
neon and the core cools down again.
Again, gravitational pressure takes
over and compress the central core,
increasing its density and
temperature until the oxygen burning
process can start.[6]
• In about six months to a year the star
fuses oxygen, creating a new helium
core. This core is inert because it is not
hot enough. When all oxygen is
consumed, the core cools and contracts.
This contraction heats it up to the point
 Silicon burning
• Silicon burning is the last process
that can occur in stars before a
supernova occurs.
• It’s very short, often no longer than a
day.
• Very hot ;2.7–3.5 billion kelvin (GK)
[7]
• It produces heavy elements that
require more energy input to build
than is released upon their creation
• Mainly Iron is produced at the end of
this process
 Supernovae
• Since the core isn’t exerting enough
gravitational force anymore the many outer
layers escape in a huge explosion of released
energy
• The energy released here creates an
environment in which the heaviest elements
can be created
• This is a process known as neutron capture ;
“a nuclear reaction in which a target nucleus
absorbs a neutron (uncharged particle), then
emits a discrete quantity of electromagnetic
energy (gamma-ray photon). The target
nucleus and the product nucleus are isotopes,
or forms of the same element. Thus
phosphorus-31, on undergoing neutron
capture, becomes phosphorus-32.”[8]
• Many of them are very unstable and decay very
quickly into more stable elements.
 What remains of the star?
• The Chandrasekhar limit is the
maximum mass which can be
supported against gravitational
collapse by electron degeneracy
pressure. It is about 1.4 solar
masses.
• “If it has more mass than the
Chandrasekhar limit, it will collapse
to form a neutron star or black
hole, a process with the potential to
ITS PHYSICS
TIME!
Proton
–
Proton
Fusion
Cycle
 [9]

• Involves only isotopes of hydrogen and helium; it takes

place in low-mass stars like our Sun at about 15
million Celsius. Two protons fuse together. There are
4 stages of this phase.
+Step 1: Two H nuclei fuse into 2H, releasing a positron

and a neutrino as one proton changes into a neutron.

This positron annihilates with an electron, the mass
energy carried off by two gamma ray photons.

+Step 2: the 2H produced in the first stage can fuse
+Step 3: From here there are three possible
paths to generate helium isotope 4He.
In pp1 helium-4 comes from fusing two of the

helium-3 nuclei produced; the pp2

(dominant at temperatures of 14 to 23 MK)
and pp3 (dominant if the temperature
exceeds 23 MK) branches fuse 3He with a
pre-existing 4He to make Beryllium-7. In the
Sun, branch pp1 takes place with a
frequency of 86%, pp2 with 14% and pp3
with 0.11%. There is also an extremely rare
pp4 branch.
Pp4: We’ve never witnessed it before but we

assume 3He interacts directly with a proton

to make 4He.
Comparing the mass of the final helium-4

atom with the masses of the four protons

reveals that 0.007 or 0.7% of the mass of
• Comparing the mass of the
final helium-4 atom with the
masses of the four protons
reveals that 0.007 or 0.7%
of the mass of the original
protons has been lost. This
mass has been converted
into energy, in the form of
gamma rays and neutrinos
released during each of the
individual reactions.
Thank you
for your
time!
Referenc
•

•
es
[1]http://www.linguasphere.org/dictionary/n-4812-atom.html
accessed 13/11/07
[2] http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=nucleon
accessed 13/11/07
• [3]http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys230/lectures/stellar_energy/st
ellar_energy.html accessed 13/11/07
• [4] http://www.seasky.org/cosmic/assets/images/starlife.jpg
13/11/07
• [5]http://
imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/dwarfs.html
accessed 13/11/07
• [6] http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-neon-burning.htm
accessed 13/11/07
• [7] http://
webs.mn.catholic.edu.au/physics/emery/hsc_astrophysics_page4.h
accessed 15/11/07
• [8]http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-chandrasekhar-
limit.htm accessed 16/11/07
• [9] http://
hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/astro/procyc.html
accessed 16/11/07
• [10] http://
www.chemie.de/lexikon/e/Proton-proton_chain_reaction