" 💫How does the Sun gets it's Energy"
(How does a star Exist)
 |
| (Red giant) |
Welcome my fellows 😁😁🙌🙌🙌 today I’m gonna explain you how a star does exist. Mainly a star driven by 1 primal incidence. You may wonder what is that? 🤔🤔🤔The key factor is nuclear fusion, which powers most stars throughout the universe.
A star like our sun mainly produces energy by fusing two hydrogen atoms into helium. This process is common among all known stars in the observable universe. Atomic fusion reactions are a complex topic; however, I will provide a brief explanation here. Nuclear fusion is one type of nuclear reaction that occurs naturally in the cosmos. During these reactions, lighter atomic nuclei combine, releasing some particles and radiation while creating a new atom with a higher mass number and atomic number. Conversely, nuclear fission involves splitting an atom into smaller fragments, typically resulting in lower mass than the original atom.
✋[Equations and other resources are in the bottom of the article] 👍.
✋ Nuclear fusion
1. Incredibly high Temperature: The nuclei of atoms repel each other
due to their positive charges. To overcome this repulsion and bring them close
enough to fuse, they need to be moving very fast, which requires extremely high
temperatures. Typically, temperatures in the range of 100 million to 1 billion
degrees Celsius are needed for fusion to occur.
2. High Density: Even at high temperatures, the nuclei are
still very small and far apart. To increase the probability of them colliding
and fusing, a high density of nuclei is needed. This requires immense pressure,
typically found in the cores of stars or in specialized machines designed to
achieve these conditions.
Hydrogen atoms are kept apart primarily due to the Coulomb barrier, in this case it's act like an electrostatic repulsive force between the positively charged atomic nuclei. To surmount the Coulomb barrier and enable the fusion of hydrogen nuclei, producing helium and releasing massive amounts of energy, extraordinarily high temperatures and pressures are necessary.
3. Confinement: The high-temperature, high-density plasma
containing the nuclei needs to be confined for a sufficient time to allow
fusion reactions to occur. This can be achieved by magnetic fields or other
confinement methods. (tell you in later article)
4. A suitable Fuel: The choice of fuel is crucial for
achieving successful fusion. Most commonly, isotopes of hydrogen such as
deuterium and tritium are used because they have a relatively low *Coulomb
barrier* and require lower temperatures to fuse compared to other elements.
✋ (What is Coulomb barrier ?)
The Coulomb barrier refers to the electrostatic repulsive/ attractive force between charged particles, particularly between charged atomic nuclei and other particles,Molecules.
According to Coulomb's law, opposite charges attract each other, while like charges repel each other. In an atom, the strong attractive force between the positively charged protons in the nucleus and the negatively charged electrons orbiting around it holds the atom together.
The Coulomb force equation is represented in the Bottom of the article.
✋But hey ! electrons possess negative charge while nuclei carry positive charge. One might wonder, given their opposite charges, why electrons don't simply fall into the nucleus?
Okay !!! There are several reasons why electrons don't fall into nuclei despite being attracted by Coulomb forces. The first thing is the quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics plays a significant role in this phenomenon.
Unlike classical physics, quantum physics exhibits unique properties such as electrons spinning around the nucleus instead of following planetary motion. Each electron occupies a distinct energy state within the electron probability cloud, ensuring no two electrons share the same configuration.
In the quantum model of atoms, electrons closer to the nucleus possess the lowest and most stable energy levels, while those farther away exhibit higher energy levels. Electron orbits determine these positions, which depend on energy levels. Electrons must gain additional energy to move to higher orbits and release energy for lower ones. Consequently, stable orbits—those closest to the nucleus—cannot lose any more energy to fall into the nucleus.
Moving on to the next point, another crucial factor is the centrifugal force resulting from the electron's angular momentum. To give you an idea of the speed at which electrons revolve around the nucleus, scientists estimate approximately 7 quadrillion revolutions per second 🤯🤯🤯 You can easily guess how much angular momentum it could generate!!!
Hydrogen, Deuterium, and Tritium Comparison
| Feature | Hydrogen (H) | Deuterium (D) | Tritium (T) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol | H | D | T |
| Number of Protons | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Number of Neutrons | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mass Number | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Isotopic Abundance | 99.989% | 0.011% | Trace amounts |
| Radioactive | No | No | Yes |
| Half-life | N/A | N/A | 12.32 years |
| Melting Point | 14.01 K (-259.14 °C) | 18.73 K (-254.42 °C) | 20.68 K (-252.47 °C) |
| Boiling Point | 20.28 K (-252.87 °C) | 23.67 K (-249.48 °C) | 25.36 K (-247.79 °C) |
| Density | 0.08988 g/L | 0.162 kg/m³ | 0.180 kg/m³ |
| Occurrence in Nature | Molecular hydrogen (H2) is the most abundant molecule in the universe | Deuterium is found in water and other organic molecules | Tritium is produced in the atmosphere by cosmic ray interactions and in nuclear reactors |
| Uses | Hydrogen is used in fuel cells, rocket fuel, and as a reducing agent | Deuterium is used in nuclear reactors and in NMR spectroscopy | Tritium is used in self-luminous devices, nuclear weapons, and medical research |
- \(D + p \rightarrow He^3\)
- \(He^3 + He^3 \rightarrow He^4 + p + p + n + Q\)
- \(D + D \rightarrow T\) (Combination of two deuterium atoms, yielding tritium)
- \(T + D \rightarrow He + n + Q\) (Tritium reacting with a deuterium atom, creating stable helium, a neutron, and generating heat)
- \(D + D \rightarrow He^4 + Q\)
- \(He^4 \xrightarrow{\gamma} He^4\)
Coulomb's Law Equation
Where:
- \( F \) is the electrostatic force between the charges.
- \( k \) is Coulomb's constant, approximately \( 8.9875 \times 10^9 \ \text{N m}^2/\text{C}^2 \).
- \( q_1 \) and \( q_2 \) are the magnitudes of the charges.
- \( r \) is the separation distance between the charges.
Simple version! 😜😉
| Force | Strength | Range | Carrier particle(s) | Nature | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravity | Weakest | Infinite | Graviton (hypothetical) | Attractive | Shaping the universe at large scales |
| Electromagnetism | Strong | Infinite | Photon | Both attractive and repulsive | Binding atoms and molecules, electricity, magnetism |
| Strong Nuclear Force | Strongest | Very short (1 femtometer) | Gluons | Attractive | Binding quarks in atomic nuclei |
| Weak Nuclear Force | Weak | Very short (0.1 femtometer) | W and Z bosons | Both attractive and repulsive | Certain types of radioactive decay and nuclear reactions |
😁
Centrifugal Force
Fc = mω²r
where:
- Fc is the centrifugal force
- m is the mass of the object
- ω is the angular velocity of the rotating reference frame
- r is the distance from the object to the center of rotation
Angular Momentum
L = r x p
where:
- L is the angular momentum vector
- r is the position vector of the particle relative to the origin
- p is the momentum vector of the particle
- x represents the vector cross product
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