Thursday 31 August 2023

EVERY ATOM IN OUR BODY ................

Most of the elements that make up the periodic table are produced in supernovae explosions - the final stage of evolution of massive stars. So it is true nearly all the elements in the human body are made in a star and many have come through several supernovae - recycled.

Stars carry out nuclear fusion reactions at their cores, producing light elements until it reaches the stage of iron. This is when the fusion reactions cease because fusion of iron consumes more energy than it can produce. When fusion stops, the star is not in hydrostatic balance anymore,, and it explodes as a supernova, expelling all the elements that had been generated so far. Then the next generation of stars form from those elements, burn and are again swept out. This is how star material is recycled.

When the supernova explosion occurs the blast initially contains a large density of free neutrons, which may rapidly synthesize, generating roughly half of the elements in the universe that are heavier than iron.

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