At the end of the lesson, the students will

be able to:

1. solve the conversion of hydrogen to helium in the proton- proton

chain reaction .
2. analyze the concept of triple alpha process, alpha ladder, CNO
cycle, r-process and s-process in the formation of heavy elements.
3. create a framework of the formation of heavier elements in the
stellar nucleosynthesis.
In a proton-proton chain, four
hydrogen nuclei (protons) are
combined to form one helium nucleus;
0.7 percent of the original mass is lost
mainly by conversion into heat energy,
but some energy escapes in the form of
neutrinos (ν).
 First, two hydrogen nuclei (1H)
combine to form a hydrogen-2
nucleus (2H, deuterium) with
the emission of a
positive electron (e+, positron)
and a neutrino (ν). The
hydrogen-2 nucleus then
rapidly captures another proton
to form a helium-3 nucleus
(3He), while emitting a
gamma ray (γ).
IN SYMBOLS:
Figure 3. A star with a
very dense helium core
and a hydrogen shell
expands into a red
giant due to increased
radiation pressure.
Figure 1. Equilibrium of the Sun and other main-sequence stars
Figure 2. The main branch of the proton-proton chain reaction (p-
p chain) resulting in the formation of 4He.
Note that the 8Be intermediate is unstable, so either it decays
or forms 12C.

The star can keep growing into a supergiant as it accumulates

mass.
Alpha fusion processes continue in the core via the alpha
ladder.

More and more alpha particles are fused to create heavier

elements all the way to iron, making the core and star itself
more massive.
Main-sequence stars hotter than 15 million K could
facilitate the production of helium once carbon was present
from alpha processes. This happens through a process
where 12C is used as a catalyst known as the carbon fusion
cycle or the CNO cycle. Go through the cycle briefly and
explain that this process involves repeated proton capture
and beta-plus decay