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No. Only the most massive stars can fuse iron.

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Is iron the heaviest element made in abundance in massive stars?

No, iron is not the heaviest element made in massive stars. Massive stars produce elements through nuclear fusion in their cores, creating heavier elements than iron, such as lead, gold, and uranium. Iron is often referred to as the endpoint of nuclear fusion in massive stars because the energy required to fuse iron exceeds the energy output of the reaction.


Explain How a main sequence star like the sun is able to remain stable?

The answer is "negative feedback", which is what provides stability in many other situations as well. In this case, if the fusion is too fast, the Sun gets hotter, expands... and the fusion gets slower. Similarly, if the fusion is too slow, the Sun will cool down, contract, and the fusion gets faster again. In summary, any deviation from a point of equilibrium will result in a tendency to go back to equilibrium.


What happens to the liquid and gas particles placed in sun?

The liquid and gas particles in the sun undergo a process called "fusion." In fusion, atoms are melded together to create a larger atom. When this happens to small atoms (any atoms smaller than iron), there is a lot of energy released, which is why the sun is so bright and hot.


How does a star burn without oxygen?

The "burning" that takes place in a star is not fire. It is nuclear fusion. In the process hydrogen atoms fuse with one another to form helium, releasing millions of times more energy than can come from any fire.


What will the sun turn into when it runs out of fuel for earth?

First off, the sun is basically a giant fusion engine. It smashes two atoms together to form a new atom. This releases massive amounts of energy, which we on Earth see as sunlight. It also releases radiation, but that is deflected by the Earth's magnetosphere. The sun combines hydrogen to make helium and combines hydrogen and helium to make lithium.The heaviest element that our Sun produces is probably silicon; the core temperature and pressure would need to be MUCH higher to produce heavier elements. The heaviest element that can be produced in ANY star is iron. The reason for this is something called the "packing fraction curve". As light elements are fused into heavier elements, they release energy; this is how the Sun and other stars work, by fusing hydrogen into helium. Toward the end of a star's life, the temperature and pressure increase enough to fuse helium into carbon, and then carbon into heavier elements, but each stage releases less and less energy. Finally, when elements fuse into iron, you can get no more energy out. To fuse iron into heavier things, or anything into elements heavier than iron, you must put energy IN. When a star begins fusing iron into heavy elements, it suddenly stops producing energy to support the star against the tremendous gravity, but instead starts sucking energy OUT of the core of the star to power fusion! This loss of energy from the core of the star causes a sudden and catastrophic implosion as the core of the star collapses the core into a black hole or neutron star, and the outer layers of the star are compressed and expelled in a shock wave that creates gigatons of heavy elements and throws the remainder of the star's mass into space; a supernova explosion. So, nothing heavier than iron can be produced in a normal star; heavier elements are only created in supernovas.

Related Questions

What does an atom do if it colides with another atom?

Because atoms have negatively charged electrons orbiting the outside of them, atoms will repel each other. This means that it is extremely rare for atoms to collide, but when they do, the reaction depends on why it happened. If they are in a star for example, and the huge gravity and heat of the star forces them together, any atom lighter than iron will undergo fusion and make a heavier element. In fission reactors, it is extremely rare for an atom to hit another atom, but it can happen. Most of the time they will simply be hit by a flying electron before they can fuse, but even if they weren't, the atoms used in a fission reactor are much much heavier than iron and will not undergo fusion. The reason iron and anything heavier than iron cannot undergo fusion is that iron will absorb a huge amount of energy before it will fuse. In stars, the most powerful stable fusion reactors we know of, the iron will actually absorb so much energy that it kills the star. This is why stars will collapse after a short amount of time as a supernova. The supernova has layers with heavier and heavier atoms. When it reaches a layer with iron, it suddenly loses large amounts of energy and loses the ability to counteract gravity. This causes it to collapse into a dwarf star, or explode.


Where does nuclear fusion occur in any star?

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What is a large ball of gas that emits energy produced by nuclear reactions in its interior?

when the supply of carbon is used up, other fusion reactions occur, until the core is filled with iron atom. +++ It is called a "star" - and it starts as hydrogen fusing to helium long before it forms carbon or iron. Iron is the end-product of medium-sized stars like our Sun.


How do you define a star in astronomy?

A star is any hydrostatically stable plasma that generates heat and electromagnetic radiation by nuclear fusion.


What elements are formed during a nova or supernova?

It is the elements heavier than iron that are formed in a supernova. All the heavier elements up through uranium appear when a star of sufficient mass collapses in a supernova event. These heavier elements, sometimes referred to as the trans-iron elements, appear in the collapse of a massive star. In this catastrophic event, the iron and silicon (and any other lighter elements) in the star are super compressed. The already hot conditions are made even hotter, and the available energy is sufficient to drive the fusion reactions that create the trans-iron elements.All the fusion reactions up through those that create iron are exothermic, and that means they release energy. The fusion reactions that create the trans-iron elements are endothermic, and that means energy has to be put into them. Only in the collapse of a star of sufficient mass is there enough energy to drive the fusion reactions that produce the trans-iron elements.See periodic table (iron is number 26).See related link.


Is iron the heaviest element made in abundance in massive stars?

No, iron is not the heaviest element made in massive stars. Massive stars produce elements through nuclear fusion in their cores, creating heavier elements than iron, such as lead, gold, and uranium. Iron is often referred to as the endpoint of nuclear fusion in massive stars because the energy required to fuse iron exceeds the energy output of the reaction.


Why doesn't helium fusion occur at the surface?

Because fusion of any kind requires VERY high temperature and pressure, which can take place only in the core of a star.


What is the only element that can theoretically release energy in neither fusion nor fission?

The only element that can theoretically release energy without undergoing fusion or fission is iron. This phenomenon occurs due to the binding energy per nucleon being at its maximum for iron, meaning that both fusion and fission processes would require energy input rather than releasing energy.


Are there any known fusion reactions in the universe?

Definitely. Nuclear fusion is the source of all the light, heat, and other energy generated and radiated by every star you see, including the sun.


Can nuclear fusion continue indefinitely?

Nuclear fusion, like any process of producing power, uses fuel in doing so. In the stars, where fusion is the source of their energy, hydrogen is being used in fusion, producing helium plus energy. In any star the supply of hydrogen will eventually run out and the star will die, but its lifetime will be immensely long, many billions of years. On earth, if fusion can be made to work, it will use isotopes of hydrogen which are abundant, so as a source of energy it would last for many thousands of years.


What is a star that uses helium for fuel and has expanding?

the North star Any star that is in its red giant phase, as the fusion of helium creates so much energy that the star expands. Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion (bright star located on Orion's right "shoulder") is an excellent example.


What is the element used in fusion?

Fusion experiments and designs for fusion reactors generally focus on hydrogen, in the forms of deuterium (hydrogen-2) and/or tritium (hydrogen-3). It should be born in mind that there is not much preventing any atom of any natural element undergoing fusion with something else. In fact, virtually all of what is around us is either hydrogen or something made by fusion, and this includes all the heavy elements like lead uranium.