Fusion reactions - Higher
In a main sequenceA stable stage in the life cycle of a star. Nuclear fusion occurs, fusing hydrogen nuclei into helium nuclei. There is a balance between the outwards radiation and the force of gravity pulling inwards. star, hydrogen nucleiNuclei is the plural of nucleus. The nucleus is the central part of an atom. It contains protons and neutrons, and has most of the mass of the atom. fuse together to form helium nuclei.
This happens in several steps, but one way to simplify the overall change is:
\(_{1}^{2}\textrm{H} +~ _{1}^{3}\textrm{H} \rightarrow _{2}^{4}\textrm{He} +~ _{0}^{1}\textrm{n}\)
Two hydrogen nuclei fuse to produce a helium nucleus and a neutronUncharged subatomic particle, with a mass of 1 relative to a proton. The relative charge of a neutron is 0..
