How the Elements were created
Feb 16, 2016
How the Elements were created
Big Bang• Hydrogen and a small amount of Helium
formed.• Hydrogen has 1 Proton in its nucleus, Helium
has 2 protons.
Fusion!
• Happens in stars• Elements are created through forcing atoms
together into larger atoms – This also releases the energy that makes stars bright.
• In the biggest stars (millions of times bigger than the sun) elements as heavy as Iron (26 protons) can be formed
Supernova
• When large stars fuse all of their atoms into Iron, they cannot fuse more, become unstable, and explode.
• This intense explosion causes atoms to fuse into even larger atoms - all the other heavy elements.
Our Solar system• Our sun and planets were made from a nebula
that was formed out of leftovers from supernovas.
• This is why we have so many different elements on Earth.