LESSON 2

Formation of
Elements
 Nuclear Reactions and Origin of
Elements
Everything around us is matter,
which is composed of varying
combinations of any of the 114
elements identified to be present in
the universe, including Earth. These
elements are later found to be
composed of atoms.
 Atoms are the building blocks of
matter. How these elements
formed and existed is explained by
physicists, chemists, and
astronomers on the basis of
cosmology and the nuclear
reactions that occurred during the
early existence of the universe.
Introduction to Nuclear Reactions
Before delving to the details of element
formation, it is essential to familiarize the
symbols of the different particles involved in
nuclear reactions.
Nuclear reactions are processes in which
a nucleus either combines with another
nucleus – nuclear fusion or splits into smaller
nuclei – nuclear fission. These processes involve
the emission of energetic particles of an atom
known as radioactivity.
 The radioactive particles may be
elements, electrons, protons, and
neutrons among others. Notice that
each particle involved in a reaction has
a superscript and a subscript at the
left-hand side of the symbol. These
superscript and subscript are the
particle’s atomic mass (A) and atomic
number (Z), respectively.
• Starting from a small, young, yellow star,
successive nuclear reactions occurred until it
became a giant red star. The reactions
involved in the formation of each new
element happened in regions or regions so
called fusion shells. As more elements were
produced, new layers added up to the size of
the star until it became a red giant. Stars are
described to have an “onion skin structure ”
as they evolved and produced new elements.
 In each reaction, notice that the sum of
the atomic masses of the particles in the left-
hand side of the equation is equal to that in the
right-hand side. The same is true with the
atomic numbers. If a particle is missing in an
equation, one can easily identify it by
arithmetically finding the atomic mass and
atomic number of the particle that will make
the sum in the two sides of the equation equal.
This process of accounting for A and Z in the
left and right sides of the nuclear reaction
equation is the key to balance the equation.
• Stellar Explosion
• As the red giant star exhausted the
nuclear fuel of light elements, its core
started to collapse that eventually led to
the explosion of the star. This violent
explosion called supernova released a
huge amount of nuclear energy and
produced, through neutron capture and
radioactive decay, other elements
heavier than iron.
• Neutron capture reactions were either as
fast as a fraction of a second or as slow as a
few million years. These processes occurred
as a seed nucleus captured neutrons, forming
a heavier isotope of the element that was
either stable or radioactive. Stable isotopes
continued to capture neutrons and formed
other heavier isotopes of the seed nuclei.
Unstable or radioactive isotopes, however,
underwent beta decay, producing an isotope
of a new element.
• For seed nuclei with relatively
few neutrons (from iron to bismuth),
neutron capture occurred so slowly
that beta decay of the product
isotope happened before it captured
another neutron. This is now referred
to as the slow process or s-process.
• Different isotopes and much
heavier elements were formed
during the neutron capture-and-
decay processes. All these elements,
along with the fragments of the star
during supernova, were released into
the vast space and gradually
condensed to form the different
planets like Earth, new stars, and
other heavenly bodies.
 r – process
A rapid nuclear reaction through which
an isotope successively and rapidly
acquires neutrons before beta decay of the
unstable isotope occurs.

s – process
A slow nuclear reaction through which
beta decay of an isotope immediately
occurs right after neutron capture.