PHYSICAL SCIENCE NOTES FOR PRELIM EXAM

Brighter Stars tend to have higher masses and radii. Such as stars are called
high-mass stars. They include the supergiant, giants, and the upper end members
of the main sequence group. In contrast are the low and medium- mass stars
which includes the Sun and our red dwarf neighbor, Proxima Centauri. In general,
high- mass stars have shorter lifespans than their lower-mass counterparts. This is
because they have higher temperatures that cause them to consume their
hydrogen fuel faster.
In contrast with the main sequence star are the giants, supergiants, and white
dwarfs.This type of stars are those that already have exhausted their supply of
hydrogen.
STELLAR NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
In a landmark review paper published in 1957, cosmologists Margaret Peachey-
Burbidge her hus Geoffrey Burbidge, William Fowler, and Fred Hoyle summarized
the processes that entail stellar nucleosynthesis which is the series or pertinent
nuclear reactions that take place in stars that could have formed the heavier
elements. In these reactions, the pre-existing elements and isotopes in a star have
been fused to form new elements. For example, carbon (denoted as “12C”) is
formed from the combination of three helium atoms (4He) in a process called
helium burning. The process also produces the element beryllium (8Be).
Other elements such as nitrogen (15N) and an isotope of oxygen (15O) could
have formed from other types of reactions, such as CNO- I cycle depicted on the
right. Meanwhile, the rest of the heavy elements formed from a combination of
these aforementioned and other reactions. Although fusion processes and
burning play a primary role in the formation of the heavier elements, the latter
may also form through the processes of neutron and/or proton capture by pre-
existing nuclei. These nuclei may attract these particles that have been released
by other fusion reactions, transforming them into unstable isotopes of a new
element that can decay further into different elements.
THE STELLAR LIFE CYCLE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH STELLAR
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
The high heat ensuing from the rapidly shrinking core causes the rest of the star,
which is gaseous and inert, to expand in volume. This marks the stage when the
star becomes what is called a red giant. Despite its size, high internal heat, and
brighter luminosity, a red giant’s surface is far cooler than it originally was during
its main sequence stage.
 At this stage, the core of the red giant sustains itself through the fusion of
helium instead of hydrogen. This helium core contains a thin external shell of the
few remaining unfused hydrogen. The heat released by the fusion of helium
begins to induce nuclear fusion within this thin shell, a process that further heats
up the core and hastens the nuclear reaction process.
Eventually, most of the helium becomes used up as heavier and heavier
elements such as carbon become produced in their place. Low-mass stars such as
the Sun lack enough mass that can be transformed into energy needed to fuse the
carbon, therefore rendering the latter unfit for use as the star’s fuel. In relatively
more massive stars, it is still possible to fuse the carbon into even heavier
elements, particularly iron.
With no more nuclear reactions to sustain the structure of the red giant, it
becomes nothing more than a hollow shell of its former self. This shell, consisting
of dust and gas that is rich in various elements, would be swept outward and
elsewhere in the universe by remnants of the stellar wind that the red giant once
produced.
White Dwarf- is left in smoldering carbon (or iron) core of the now-dead star.
The white dwarf will also lose hear to its surroundings that it can no longer emit
substantial electromagnetic radiation. At this point, it will become a black dwarf.
In contrast, high-mass stars transition to a much larger red supergiant phase
before ending their lives with a bang.
Supernova- it produces a dramatic, explosive release of energy—a phenomenon.
A supernova is so powerful that it can fuse iron and atoms to form even heavier
elements such as bromine.