Why Can’t Stars Produce Elements Heavier Than Iron? Fusion of elements with mass numbers (the number of protons and neutrons) greater than 26 uses up more energy than is produced by the reaction. Thus, elements heavier than iron cannot be fuel sources in stars. What is the heaviest element that can be formed in a
Why Heavy Nuclei Are Unstable? Heavy nuclie are unstable due to large repulsive forces between large number of protons in the nucleus. Why is a heavy nucleus unstable? The presence of too many protons and neutrons in heavier nuclei will upset the balance and binding energy of nuclear force, which make the nucleus unstable. Such
What Does It Mean When A Nucleus Is Stable? Nuclear stability means that the nucleus of an element is stable and thus it does not decay spontaneously emitting any kind of radioactivity. … Note that a few radioactive atoms have lifetimes longer than the age of the Universe (e.g., 209Bi), while others become stable when
What Happens When Two Light Nuclei Fuse Together To Form A Heavier Nucleus? Fusion power is the power generated by nuclear fusion processes. In fusion reactions, two light atomic nuclei fuse together to form a heavier nucleus. In doing so, they release a comparatively large amount of energy that arises from the binding energy, creating