So I have been watching some science channel shows about stars and novas and how elements are produced. I figure it is much simplified in the tv show so please forgive my dumb questions.
From my understanding, the stars start out as mostly hydrogen and will fuse hydrogen into helium, as the star ages it starts fusing helium into higher elements. If the star is large enough it will fuse all the way down to iron at which time it goes nova because it can't fuse iron. As it explodes, the higher elements are produced, like gold, lead, titanium, uranium and so on. And the reason the higher elements are more rare is because they only are created during the brief explosion of the nova. The elements float around in the aftermath of the nova as gas and eventually will condense into new stars and planets, which is how we have a planet with all of the various elements.
So here are my questions:
1. If the higher elements are in short supply because of the way they are made during a nova, then why is gold so rare on earth but elements like lead are common?
2. If we have an iron core and iron is fairly common in this solar system, and planets and our sun are created through gravity, then why do the planets like earth have heavy elements like iron and the sun is made up of hydrogen? Wouldn't it make sense that the heavier elements would be concentrated in the higher gravity planets and especially the sun?
3. If the sun does have heavier elements like iron it it, why doesn't it either go nova or stop fusing? One of the shows said that once a star produced iron it instantly went nova.
From my understanding, the stars start out as mostly hydrogen and will fuse hydrogen into helium, as the star ages it starts fusing helium into higher elements. If the star is large enough it will fuse all the way down to iron at which time it goes nova because it can't fuse iron. As it explodes, the higher elements are produced, like gold, lead, titanium, uranium and so on. And the reason the higher elements are more rare is because they only are created during the brief explosion of the nova. The elements float around in the aftermath of the nova as gas and eventually will condense into new stars and planets, which is how we have a planet with all of the various elements.
So here are my questions:
1. If the higher elements are in short supply because of the way they are made during a nova, then why is gold so rare on earth but elements like lead are common?
2. If we have an iron core and iron is fairly common in this solar system, and planets and our sun are created through gravity, then why do the planets like earth have heavy elements like iron and the sun is made up of hydrogen? Wouldn't it make sense that the heavier elements would be concentrated in the higher gravity planets and especially the sun?
3. If the sun does have heavier elements like iron it it, why doesn't it either go nova or stop fusing? One of the shows said that once a star produced iron it instantly went nova.
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