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Quarter1 - Lesson1

The document is a pre-test about star formation and stellar nucleosynthesis. It contains questions about the stages of star formation from protostar to red giant to supernova. It also addresses how heavier elements are formed through nuclear fusion inside stars, including the fusion of hydrogen and helium in main sequence stars and the step-wise fusion of heavier elements like carbon, oxygen, neon, magnesium, and silicon in red giant stars. The document discusses how a star will eventually die depending on its mass, either blowing off its outer layers to form a white dwarf or exploding as a supernova.

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0% found this document useful (1 vote)
412 views5 pages

Quarter1 - Lesson1

The document is a pre-test about star formation and stellar nucleosynthesis. It contains questions about the stages of star formation from protostar to red giant to supernova. It also addresses how heavier elements are formed through nuclear fusion inside stars, including the fusion of hydrogen and helium in main sequence stars and the step-wise fusion of heavier elements like carbon, oxygen, neon, magnesium, and silicon in red giant stars. The document discusses how a star will eventually die depending on its mass, either blowing off its outer layers to form a white dwarf or exploding as a supernova.

Uploaded by

VERNA LOU
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Pre-Test

DIRECTIONS: Read each question carefully. Choose the letter of the best answer.
Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.

1 . Which of the following asserts that stars are formed when a dense region of
molecular cloud collapse?
a. Big Bang Theory c. Creation Theory
b. Evolution Theory d. Star Formation Theory
2. Which refers to the fragments of clouds that contract and form a stellar core?
a. Protostar b. Red giant c. Supernova d. White dwarf
3. What will be formed when a protostar attains its gravitational equilibrium?
a. Main sequence star c. Supernova
b. Red Giant d. White dwarf
4. Where do hydrogen and helium fuse in a main sequence star?
a. Core b. Crust c. Inner core d. Mantle
5. Helium will be converted into what after its fusion with two more helium atoms?
a. Argon b. Carbon c. Chlorine d. Oxygen
6. When a star has used up all the hydrogen in its core, hydrogen will be converted into
helium in the layer immediately surrounding the core. What stage of star formation
is this?
a. Protostar b. Red giant c. Supernova d. White dwarf
7. During red giant formation, what element will be produced by the fusion of oxygen with
helium?
a. Helium b. Hydrogen c. Neon d. Silicon
8. During red giant formation, what element will be produced by the fusion of neon with
helium?
a. Carbon b. Magnesium c. Manganese d. Silicon
9. During red giant formation, what element will be produced by the fusion of silicon with
another silicon atom?
a. Argon b. Boron c. Iron d. Gold
10. At what stage does the outer covering of a star blow due to insufficient energy?
a. Protostar b. Red giant c. Supernova d. White dwarf
11. What will happen to a star if its core can no longer produce the needed energy?
a. Protostar b. Red giant c. Supernova d. White dwarf
12. Who predicted new elements based on the atomic number of known elements?
a. Ernest Rutherford b. John Newlands c. Henry Mosely d. Plato
13. What type of nuclear reaction emits a p artic le with two protons and two
neutrons?
a. Alpha emission b. Beta emission c. Gamma emission d.
Fusion
14. What type of nuclear reaction emits electrons?
a.Alpha emission b. Beta emission c. Gamma emission d. Fission
15.What type of nuclear reaction emits gamma rays?
a. Alpha emission b. Beta emission c. Gamma emission d.
Fusion
DIRECTIONS: Demonstrate understanding of primordial elements formation by
completing the table below.

Elements Reactants 1 Reactants 2 Nuclear Reaction


Deuterium
Tritium
Helium (Stable)
Lithium

Stellar Word Puzzle


Directions: Encircle and write down the words which are related to star and element
formation. In addition, expand your vocabulary by finding the meaning of the
encircled words and relate them to your prior knowledge.

N U C L E O S Y N T H E S I S G B E T A
S D A J L H Y D R O G E N A L P H A I I
T U T H E L I U M S U N S T A B L E A B
A S O R M N U C L E U S N U C L E I D T
R T M D E F U S I O N R A D I A T I O N
C O C H N F I S S I O N G A M M A S G N
F I V R T P R O T O S T A R M H D R S V
H F L F S U P E R N O V A G J D H T A C
Evolution of Stars and the Formation of Heavier Elements
Star formation theory states that
stars are formed when a dense region of
molecular cloud collapses. During this
process, fragments of clouds contract
and form a stellar core known as
protostar. The contraction and
gravitational force of the protostar result
in an increase in temperature which
triggers nuclear reaction within the star
upon reaching 10 million Kelvin.
Throughout the reaction, neutrinos and
positrons are released, slowing down
the reaction. Once the contraction stops
and
the protostar attains its gravitational equilibrium, a main sequence star will
be formed.

In the core of a main sequence star, hydrogen fuses with helium through
proton-proton chain. In addition, the gravitational force of a main sequence star
forces hydrogen and helium to fuse resulting to burning of the 2 primordial
elements. Furthermore, at this stage, helium is converted to carbon at the core while
hydrogen is converted into helium surrounding the core which denotes the
formation of red giant. On the other hand, since massive stars possess enough
energy, mass, temperature, and pressure, the star will undergo a series of stages
where heavier elements are fused around the shell of the core whereas carbon will
be formed through helium fusion, neon will be formed through oxygen fusion,
magnesium from neon fusion, silicon from magnesium fusion, and iron from silicon
fusion which denotes the formation of red giant.

Considering that the majority of helium surrounding the core has been
converted into carbon, the rate of reaction will decrease causing the gravitational
force to act squeezing the entire star. With low mass stars, considering that the
amount of energy is not enough to sustain the reaction, and that the star’s fuel has
been exhausted, the outer material covering the star will eventually be blown-off
leaving an inert carbon core resulting to the formation of white dwarf.

The first 3 minutes of Big Bang focused primarily on the expansion and cooling
of universe so as to the synthesis of the first three elements. On the other hand, the
second cosmological event is Stellar nucleosynthesis, a process in which heavier
elements such as Beryllium ( 4 Be) and Iron ( 26 Fe) were formed by combining protons and
neutrons from the nuclei of a lighter elements.
Moreover, under the process of stellar nucleosynthesis, heavier elements are
created in different types of stars as they die or explode and the abundance of these
elements change as the stars evolve.

Stable Helium reacts with Carbon to produce oxygen and gamma rays under
extreme gravitational force and temperature. Oxygen as the product of the initial
reaction then reacts with Helium to form Neon and gamma rays
( 4 2 He + 16 8 O 2 0 10 Ne + 0 0 γ). The third reaction involves carbon reacting
another Carbon forming Magnesium and gamma ray
with
+ 12 6 C 24 12 Mg + 0 0 γ). O n the other hand, Oxygen to Oxygen
(fusion
1 26C
will create Silicon, alpha particle (Helium) and gamma rays as product.
( 168O + 16 8 O 28 14 Si + 4 2 He + 0 0 γ). The process will continue to form
heavier elements from lighter ones, but not heavier than Iron with atomic mass of
26. Lastly, supernova happens when the core can no longer produce the needed
energy to resist gravitational force, leading to its explosion and release of large
amounts of energy.

Pieces of Evidence
One remarkable evidence to support stellar nucleosynthesis and star
formation theory is the discovery of interstellar dusts and gasses which justifies the
stages of stellar formation which are happening across the universe. In addition,
infrared radiation being emitted in the process of stellar formation serves as a strong
indication that stellar nucleosynthesis is a concurrent with stellar formation and
evolution.

Atomic Number and Synthesis of New Elements


Throughout history, scientist have been working on a periodic organization of
elements as to their properties and to predict new elements. This is because
understanding the properties of these known elements will provide them a pattern
which would help them discover new elements. Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Mosely an
English chemist arranged the elements in the periodic table by using atomic number
as basis. This allowed him to identify and predict any element considering the
number of protons which is equal to the atomic number. In addition, he emphasized
that adding proton to an element increases its atomic number and that new element
will be formed.

Nuclear Reaction
Alpha Emission: a particle with two protons and two neutrons is emitted
resulting to a lighter new element. 23892 U 234 90 Th + 42 He

Beta Emission: a neutron becomes a proton, and an electron will be ejected


resulting
a new elemto
ent w ith the sam e m ass. 131 53 I 131 54 Xe + 0 -1 e
Gamma Emission: gamma ray will be emitted when a radioactive nuclide leaves a
nucleus in an excited state. 137 56 Ba 137 56 Ba + γ-photon.
Activity #1 Stellar Products
Directions: Based on your understanding about the formation of heavier elements
during stellar nucleosynthesis, predict the reactants, and products which will be
formed by the following reactions inside the table.

Reactant 1 Reactant Atomic # of Mass # of Chemical Equation Product


2 Reactant 2 Reactant 2
Helium Oxygen
Helium Neon
Helium Magnesium
Helium Silicon
Helium Sulfur
Helium Argon
Helium Calcium
Helium Titanium

Activity #2 Birth from the Stars


Directions: Identify the elements formed during the following stages of
and evolution.

Stages What were the elements How were these elements


formed? formed?
Protostar
star formation
Main Sequence Star
Red Giant Star
White Dwarf
Supernova

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