How elements are formed

Image: Neon sign

Our world is made of elements and combinations of elements called compounds. An element is a pure
substance made of atoms that are all of the same type. At present, 116 elements are known, and only
about 90 of these occur naturally.

Elements and the ‘Big Bang’ theory

During the formation of the universe some 14 billion years ago in the so-called ‘Big Bang’, only the lightest
elements were formed – hydrogen and helium along with trace amounts of lithium and beryllium. As the
cloud of cosmic dust and gases from the Big Bang cooled, stars formed, and these then grouped together
to form galaxies.
The other 86 elements found in nature were created in nuclear reactions in these stars and in huge stellar
explosions known as supernovae.

Elements and our Sun

Image: The Sun

For most of their lives, stars fuse elemental hydrogen into helium in their cores. Two atoms of hydrogen
are combined in a series of steps to create helium-4. These reactions account for 85% of the Sun’s
energy. The remaining 15% comes from reactions that produce the elements beryllium and lithium.
The energy from these nuclear reactions is emitted in various forms of radiation such as ultraviolet
light, X-rays, visible light, infrared rays, microwaves and radio waves. In addition, energised particles such
as neutrinos and protons are released, and it is these that make up the solar wind.
Earth is in the path of this energy stream, which warms the planet, drives weather and provides energy
for life. The Earth’s atmosphere is able to screen out most of the harmful radiation, and the Earth’s
magnetic field can deflect the harmful effects of the solar wind.

Dying stars
When a star’s core runs out of hydrogen, the star begins to die out. The dying star expands into a red
giant, and this now begins to manufacture carbon atoms by fusing helium atoms.
More massive stars begin a further series of nuclear burning or reaction stages. The elements formed in
these stages range from oxygen through to iron.
During a supernova, the star releases very large amounts of energy as well as neutrons, which allows
elements heavier than iron, such as uranium and gold, to be produced. In the supernova explosion, all of
these elements are expelled out into space.

Video: What is the Big Bang theory?

Our world is literally made up of elements formed deep within the cores of stars now long dead. As
Britain’s Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees said, “We are literally the ashes of long dead stars.” When you
buy a party balloon that floats in air, it is filled with helium gas – most of which was created when the
universe was only 3 minutes old!
Examples of element making (nucleogenesis) in helium burning reactions:

 3 helium atoms fusing to give a carbon atom: 3 @ 4He → 12C

 carbon atom + helium atom fusing to give an oxygen atom: 12C + 4He → 16O
 oxygen atom + helium atom fusing to give a neon atom: 16O + 4He → 20Ne
 neon atom + helium atom fusing to give a magnesium atom: 20Ne + 4He → 24Mg
Man-made elements
Only 90 of the 116 known elements occur naturally, so where have the other 26 come from?
The answer is to be found in the development of nuclear power plants and machines known
as particle accelerators:

 Scientists discovered that, by allowing fast neutrons to collide with the common isotopeof uranium
known as U-238 in a nuclear reactor, the ‘new’ element plutonium was made.
 By smashing atoms together in machines known as particle accelerators, it was discovered that
new elements could be made. For example, bombarding atoms of the element curium with atoms
of neon made element 106 – seaborgium.

NATURE OF SCIENCE
One of the habits of scientists is open-mindedness. Scientists need to be receptive to new ideas and
suggestions. As new evidence is discovered, new ways of interpreting and understanding it may have to
be considered.

How are light and heavy elements

formed? (Advanced)
For an independent study course at my high school, I am researching the formation of the elements, both
light and heavy. I have some basic understanding of how this is done, and I have also found some
technical information that at this time I don't understand. Can you point me to some good articles on the
topic, or perhaps cover some more advanced materials yourself?

The lightest elements (hydrogen, helium, deuterium, lithium) were produced in the Big Bang nucleosynthesis.
According to the Big Bang theory, the temperatures in the early universe were so high that fusion reactions could
take place. This resulted in the formation of light elements: hydrogen, deuterium, helium (two isotopes), lithium and
trace amounts of beryllium.

Nuclear fusion in stars converts hydrogen into helium in all stars. In stars less massive than the Sun, this is the only
reaction that takes place. In stars more massive than the Sun (but less massive than about 8 solar masses), further
reactions that convert helium to carbon and oxygen take place in succesive stages of stellar evolution. In the very
massive stars, the reaction chain continues to produce elements like silicon upto iron.

Elements higher than iron cannot be formed through fusion as one has to supply energy for the reaction to take
place. However, we do see elements higher than iron around us. So how did these elements form? The answer is
supernovae. In a supernova explosion, neutron capture reactions take place (this is not fusion), leading to the
formation of heavy elements. This is the reason why it is said that most of the stuff that we see around us come from
stars and supernovae (the heavy elements part). If you go into technical details, then there are two processes of
neutron capture called rapid process (r-process) and the slow process (s-process), and these lead to formation of
different elements.

Gamow, Alpher and Herman proposed the hot Big Bang as a means to produce all of the elements.
However, the lack of stable nuclei with atomic weights of 5 or 8 limited the Big Bang to producing
hydrogen and helium. Burbidge, Burbidge, Fowler and Hoyle worked out the nucleosynthesis
processes that go on in stars, where the much greater density and longer time scales allow the
triple-alpha process (He+He+He -> C) to proceed and make the elements heavier than helium. But
BBFH could not produce enough helium. Now we know that both processes occur: most helium is
produced in the Big Bang but carbon and everything heavier is produced in stars. Most lithium and
beryllium is produced by cosmic ray collisions breaking up some of the carbon produced in stars.

The following stages occur during the first few minutes of the Universe:

Less than 1 second after the Big Bang, the reactions shown at right maintain
the neutron:proton ratio in thermal equilibrium. About 1 second after the Big
Bang, the temperature is slightly less than the neutron-proton mass
difference, these weak reactions become slower than the expansion rate of
the Universe, and the neutron:proton ratio freezes out at about 1:6.
After 1 second, the only reaction that appreciably changes the number of
neutrons is neutron decay, shown at right. The half-life of the neutron is 615
seconds. Without further reactions to preserve neutrons within stable nuclei,
the Universe would be pure hydrogen.
The reaction that preserves the neutrons is deuteron formation. The deuteron
is the nucleus of deuterium, which is the heavy form of hydrogen (H2). This
reaction is exothermic with an energy difference of 2.2 MeV, but since
photons are a billion times more numerous than protons, the reaction does
not proceed until the temperature of the Universe falls to 1 billion K or kT =
0.1 MeV, about 100 seconds after the Big Bang. At this time, the
neutron:proton ratio is about 1:7.

Once deuteron formation has occurred, further reactions proceed to make

helium nuclei. Both light helium (He3) and normal helium (He4) are made,
along with the radioactive form of hydrogen (H3). These reactions can be
photoreactions as shown here. Because the helium nucleus is 28 MeV more
bound than the deuterons, and the temperature has already fallen so far that
kT = 0.1 MeV, these reactions only go one way.

The reactions at right also produce helium and usually go faster since they
do not involve the relatively slow process of photon emission.

The net effect is shown at right. Eventually the temperature gets so low that
the electrostatic repulsion of the deuterons causes the reaction to stop. The
deuteron:proton ratio when the reactions stop is quite small, and essentially
inversely proportional to the total density in protons and neutrons. Almost
all the neutrons in the Universe end up in normal helium nuclei. For a
neutron:proton ratio of 1:7 at the time of deuteron formation, 25% of the
mass ends up in helium.
The mass fraction in various isotopes vs time is shown at right. Deuterium peaks around 100
seconds after the Big Bang, and is then rapidly swept up into helium nuclei. A very few helium
nuclei combine into heavier nuclei giving a small abundance of Li7coming from the Big Bang. This
graph is a corrected version of one from this LBL page. Note that H3 decays into He3 with a 12 year
half-life so no H3 survives to the present, and Be7 decays into Li7 with a 53 day half-life and also
does not survive.

The graph above shows the time evolution of the abundances of the light elements for a slightly
higher baryon density. This figure is based on data from Burles, Nollett & Turner (1999). The
asymptotic D/H ratio [by number] for this calculation is 1.78*10 -5 which corresponds to
OmegaBh2 = 0.029. The best current estimate is OmegaBh2 = 0.0214 +/- 0.002 from the D/H ratio
measured in quasar absorption line systems, and OmegaBh2 = 0.0224 +/- 0.001 from the amplitudes
of the acoustic peaks in the angular power spectrum of the CMB anisotropy.

The deuterium, He3, He4 and Li7 abundances depend on the single parameter of the current density
of ordinary matter made out of protons and neutrons: baryonic matter. The graph above shows the
predicted abundance vs. baryon density for these light isotopes as curves, the observed abundances
as horizontal stripes, and the derived baryon density as the vertical stripe. A single value of the
baryon density fits 4 abundances simultaneously. The fit is good but not perfect. There has been
a dispute about the actual primordial helium abundance in the Universe: either 23.4 or 24.4 percent
by mass, with both broups claiming 0.2 percent accuracy so this is 5 sigma discrepancy between the
different observational camps. And a new measurement of the free neutron lifetime is 6 sigma
smaller that the previous world average, giving a new prediction of the helium abundance of 24.6
percent. The observed lithium abundance in stars is less than the predicted lithium abundance, by a
factor of about 2. But stars destroy lithium so it is hard to assess the significance of this difference.

Stars

Nuclear Fusion

Nuclear fusion separates stars and brown dwarfs from Jupiter-like objects. Nuclear fusion is the
process of light nuclei combining to form heavier nuclei. For elements lighter than iron, this process
liberates energy. The fusion of elements heavier than iron takes energy rather than gives energy. Stars are
therefore powered by the fusion of elements lighter than iron, particularly of hydrogen.
Recall how an atom is constituted: an atom has a nucleus composed of protons and neutrons,
collectively known as nucleons, around which electrons orbit. In nuclear fusion, the total number of protons
and neutrons is conserved, but some protons are converted into neutrons in the process. A proton becomes a
neutron by emitting a positron, the antiparticle of the electron, and a neutrino in an exothermic process that
releases 0.8 MeV of energy.1 A neutron becomes a proton by emitting an electron and a neutrino in an
endothermic process.

Available Energy and Abundances

How much energy can be released through fusion? This is found by looking at the mass per nucleon in
an atom. The energy released in nuclear fusion is substantial enough that it appears in the atom's rest mass.
An examination of the excess rest mass energy per nucleon for all isotopes shows that the nucleus with the
greatest available energy is hydrogen, which has an 7.3 MeV energy excess relative to carbon-12. Helium,
on the other hand, has only 0.6 MeV energy excess relative to carbon-12, so fusion that takes hydrogen to
helium releases a total of 26.7 MeV for each helium nucleus that is created. Helium itself fuses to create
carbon, but this process releases a more modest 7.2 MeV per created carbon atom. Other stable atoms that
are created through nuclear fusion are oxygen-16, with an energy excess of -0.3 MeV per nucleon relative
to carbon, neon-20, with -0.4 MeV, and magnesium, with -0.6 MeV. The lowest value of excess energy per
nucleon is found for iron-56 at -1.1 MeV relative to carbon. Most of a star's nuclear energy is therefore
released in the conversion of hydrogen into helium.
The impact of stellar nuclear fusion on the elements in our universe is apparent. The most abundant
elements after hydrogen and helium, which were created in the early expanding universe, are oxygen, an
end product of helium fusion, neon, another end product of helium fusion, nitrogen, an element created
from oxygen and carbon during hydrogen fusion, and carbon, the initial end product of helium fusion. This
observational result is a consequence of the expulsion of gases by stars as they evolve. These fusion
products mixed into the interstellar gasses influences the subsequent evolution of stars created from these
gases. In this way, each generation of star influences the next generation. The fusion products created by
the first stellar generation prepared the universe for life by creating carbon and oxygen.

Thermal Equilibrium in Nuclear Fusion

A star's core is badly out of thermal equilibrium. For a fixed temperature the constituents of an isolated
system are determined solely by the temperature. For the relatively low temperature at the core of a solar
mass star, a cool 15 million degrees (1 keV), the equilibrium state is composed primarily of iron-56 and
other elements with similar numbers of nucleons it their nuclei. An equilibrium state that is predominately
hydrogen requires a much higher temperature, one of order 100 billion degrees (9 MeV). A stellar core
therefore attempts through nuclear fusion to bring its elemental composition into thermal equilibrium. The
stumbling block to this is the low reaction rates for the various nuclear reactions. The reactions that occur
first are the reactions that become most rapid at low temperatures, and rapid in this case means rapid
enough to replenish the energy lost by the star's core through the propagation of radiation and the
conduction of heat.
The first reactions that can counteract the transport of radiation out of the star as gravitational collapse
raises the core's temperature and density are the reactions that convert hydrogen into helium. The next set
of reactions that can occur as the temperature rises converts helium into carbon and other light elements
with nuclei composed of multiple helium nuclei. Further increases in temperature initiate carbon fusion,
and then oxygen fusion. These reactions continue until either the core becomes gravitationally stable from
the degeneracy pressure of electrons, after which it is a cooling degenerate dwarf star, or until the core
collapses into either a neutron star, which has a high-density equilibrium configuration radically different
from the iron equilibrium that characterizes lower-density cores, or a black hole, in which the core
configuration is unobservable and the subject of very speculative and esoteric research.

Uncertainty in Nuclear Fusion

Nuclear fusion rates are expressed in terms of cross sections. The cross section can be thought of as a
disk of a particular area centered on one of the two nuclei involved in a fusion process. If the other nuclei
moving in a strait line perpendicular to this disk hits the disk, then a reaction occurs. If it does not, then no
reaction occurs. This is a convenient abstract representation of the interactions among nuclei that allow a
simple calculation of the reaction rate for a given density and temperature. The cross section for a reaction
is a function of both temperature and density.
Determining the cross section of the nuclear reactions occurring in stars is done in the laboratory. This
work is difficult, and involves some extrapolation, because the density found in stars cannot be achieved in
the laboratory. The electrons at the core of a star shield a nucleus's electric field. They act as match makers
to the nuclei, enabling two nuclei to approach without immediately repulsing each other. This increases the
cross section from what it is in the low-density laboratory environment.
 The other difficulty is that despite the massive amounts of energy released by the stars, reaction rates
necessary to produce these luminosities are very small. In the laboratory, cross sections are measured at the
energies for which they are large, and then they are extrapolated to the energies characteristic of the sun.
1
The unit of energy MeV stands for mega electron volt, or one million electron volts. The photons that appear as visible
light have an energy of one electron volt. One MeV corresponds to 1.6 × 10 -6 ergs of energy and to 11.6 billion degrees of
temperature.
Issue 1.1, October 6, 2004