Lesson

Stellar Nucleosynthesis:
1 Rise of the Stars!
Physical Science
Quarter 1 Module 1: The world where we live today is just a small part of our universe. In your
previous years, you have learned about the different theories of the origin of
Formation of Heavy Elements the universe that eventually led to the formation of galaxies, solar system
and other heavenly bodies. This lesson will focus on one of those wonderful
things present in outer space, the stars. Although stars are millions of light
years away from us, we can still see them twinkling in the night sky.
find out how they emit light and what keeps them shining for a long time.

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 What is It

Were you able to label all the stages of star? Review the hints/clues in the previous
activity. You will notice that following the sequence will reveal what happens in
each stage of star.
Scientists believe that the formation of the universe began through the
explosion of a primordial atom which happened 13 billion years ago. It is To understand further, answer the following questions below.
known as the Big Bang. It became a theory that also explains the
1. What element from space is pulled by gravity and turn into a protostar?
continuous expansion of the universe.
______________________________________________________________________

2. What will happen if a low massive main sequence star runs out of hydrogen
fuel?
_______________________________________________________________________

3. How are heavy elements such as Carbon, Oxygen and Neon formed during
star formation?
_______________________________________________________________________

4. Why is it impossible for any matter such as light and radiation to escape
from a black hole?
________________________________________________________________________

5. Why do you think massive star has shorter life span than average star?
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Right after Big Bang, protons and neutrons combined together and formed
light elements Hydrogen and Helium in the process of Big Bang
Nucleosynthesis. Other light elements such as Lithium and Beryllium
were also formed during this process.

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Look at the diagrams below. These will explain how stars are formed into
Tri alpha process happens in red giant star once they leave the stage of
different stages because of nuclear fusion (combination of nuclei to form heavier
main sequence star. This is how three Helium-4 are converted into Carbon.
one) among heavy elements.

The diagram shows

the Proton-Proton
Chain reaction in
main sequence star.
This is the process by
which average star
gets their energy and
convert Hydrogen into
Helium. It starts with
proton and neutron
fused together to form
deuterium. When one
proton collides with
deuterium, Helium-3
is formed. Two
Helium-3 collided will
form Helium-4.

Case is different in massive

star or star eight times
larger than solar mass.
They undergo CNO A star accumulates more mass and continues to grow into red super giant.
Alpha particle fusion happens at its core and creates more heavy elements
(Carbon, Nitrogen,
until Iron. This is known as the Alpha ladder process.
Oxygen) cycle to convert
Hydrogen into Helium. You
can see at the right how
Carbon 12 fused with
proton (H) and form
Nitrogen-13. Nitrogen-13
undergoes beta decay to
form Carbon-13. Carbon-
13 captures proton (H) and
Nitrogen 14 is formed.
Nitrogen 14 captures
proton and Oxygen-15 is
produced. Oxygen-15
undergoes beta decay and
produces Nitrogen-15.
Nitrogen-15 fused with
proton gives off Helium and
ends up with Carbon-12.
Then the process repeats
again.

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How do elements heavier than Iron form? As the energy at the What I Have Learned
core of the star decreases, nuclear fusion cannot produce
elements higher than Iron. Different pathway is needed for
heavier elements to be formed.
Neutron capture, a neutron is added to a seed nucleus. Read the paragraph then fill in the blanks with the correct word/s.
Below is the representation of how neutron is captured
and heavier nucleus is formed. It all starts with 1. ____________, cloud of gas and dust particle in outer
space. Due to the force of gravity, the 2. ____________ gas is pulled together and
eventually became a protostar. Nebular fusion occurs at the center of the protostar
and becomes stable. During this time, hydrogen is converted into 3. _____________
Example: forming main sequence star. The size of the star can be average or massive. A
massive main sequence star that runs out of hydrogen fuel will begin to expand
and cool down. This is 4. ________________, the biggest star in the universe. The red
super giant continues to fuse with heavy elements and stops when 5. ___________ is
Neutron capture can be slow or rapid; converted in the core of the star. At this point, red super giant will become a
supernova after hundreds of years.
a. S-process or slow process happens when there is a
slow rate of capturing neutron while there is a faster
rate of radioactive decay hence increasing the proton
by 1.
Example: What I Can Do

Now, you have learned how stars are formed and evolve from one stage to another
b. R-process or rapid process means that there is faster
and its connection with heavy elements from Carbon through Iron. There are many
rate of capturing neutron before it undergoes
radioactive decay thus, more neutrons can be processes that stars have to undergo before they evolve from one stage to another.
combined at the nucleus. This is what happens in a For your next task, you will write a story which relates the events of your life from
supernova forming heavier elements than Iron with
past, present and future to the life cycle of a star. Use also those elements which
the process known as supernova nucleosynthesis.
Example: could symbolize something or anything in your story. (Use another sheet of paper
for this task).
__________________________________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________________________________
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The explosion of star or supernova is believed
_________________________________________________________________________________-
to be the source of other elements heavier
than Iron. During the explosion, these heavy __________________________________________________________________________________
elements are dispersed into the space. Aside
from gases Hydrogen and Helium in space,
other evidence of star formation is the energy
emitted during nuclear reaction. It is also the
energy emitted by different forms of radiation
such as UV, Infrared, X-ray, radio wave and
microwave.

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