I have always loved space.

I got my inspiration for this project by a quote

from Carl Sagan.
The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the
carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We
are made of star stuff.
Carl Sagan, Cosmos
It made me want to know what elements actually made up humans, stars,
and the universe.
Humans
Element
Oxygen
Carbon
Hydrogen
Nitrogen
Calcium
Phosphorus
Potassium
Sodium
Chlorine
Magnesium
Sulfur
Other Trace Elements

% of body mass
65.0
18.5
9.5
3.2
1.5
1.0
0.4
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.04
Less than 0.01

Atomic Symbol
O
C
H
N
Ca
P
K
Na
Cl
Mg
S
n/a

Stars
Element
Hydrogen
Helium
Other elements

% of star mass
73%
25%
2%

Atomic Symbol
H
He
n/a

Stars are mostly composed of hydrogen and helium which is because these
are the elements that are burning in the stars. Once all the hydrogen and
helium have burned up a very large star dies (8xs the mass of our sun) it will
go supernova. Supernovas are explosions and in this explosion all the other
elements that were in the star are launched into space. It is these elements
that contain the oxygen, carbon and nitrogen that makes up humans mass.
Universe
Element

Abundance

Atomic Symbol

Hydrogen
Helium
Oxygen
Neon
Nitrogen
Carbon
Silicon
Magnesium
Iron
Sulfur

40,000
3,100
22
8.6
6.6
3.5
1
0.91
0.6
0.38

H
He
O
Ne
N
C
Si
Mg
Fe
S

Stars take hydrogen and fuse it into helium and as the hydrogen is burned up
if starts to fuse helium into carbon. Any extra of these three elements in the
smaller stars are expelled from the stars into the universe. The large stars
are able to fuse more elements other than carbon. And it is these large stars
going supernova that releases the elements into the universe.
In conclusion, humans are made up from the elements that are created
inside the stars and expelled into the universe mostly from the stars dying.

References
Bennett, Jeffrey O., M. Donahue, Nicholas Schneider, and Mark Voit. The Essential Cosmic
Perspective. 7th ed. San Fransisco: Pearson Education, 2015. Print.

Cain, Fraser. "What Are Stars Made Of? - Universe Today." Universe Today.
N.p., 06 Feb. 2009. Web. 01 May 2016
<http://www.universetoday.com/24796/what-are-stars-made-of/>
Heiserman, David L. "Glossary Term - 10 Most Abundant Elements in the Universe."Glossary Term - 10
Most Abundant Elements in the Universe. Jefferson Lab, 1992. Web. 01 May 2016.
<http://education.jlab.org/glossary/abund_uni.html>.
Sagan, Carl. "A Quote from Cosmos." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2016.

"School of Life Sciences | Ask A Biologist." Chemical Elements of the Human

Body. ASU School of Life Sciences, n.d. Web. 01 May 2016.
<https://askabiologist.asu.edu/content/atoms-life>.