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11
PHYSICAL SCIENCE
QUARTER 3
Week 1

Capsulized Self-Learning Empowerment

Toolkit

zed Self-Learning Empowerment Toolkit

Schools Division Office of Zamboanga City

Region IX, Zamboanga Peninsula
Zamboanga City

“Unido, Junto avanza con el EduKalidad Cree, junto junto puede!”

WRITTEN BY: JENELYN C. LIMEN, SST – II

SANGALI NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
 1

SUBJECT & Grade 11

QUARTER 3 WEEK 1 DAY _______
GRADE/LEVEL PHYSICAL SCIENCE dd/mm/yyyy

Formation of Heavier Elements during Star Formation and

TOPIC
Evolution
LEARNING 1. Give evidence for and describe the formation of heavier elements
COMPETENCY during star formation and evolution.

IMPORTANT: Do not write anything on this material. Write your answers on a separate sheet
of paper. Do not forget to answer all the Self-Assessment Questions (SAQs).

UNDERSTAND
Formation of Heavier Elements during Star Formation and Evolution

Do you know of any astronomer who provided explanations about

the presence of elements in the universe?
Perhaps one name that you may encounter is the American
astronomer Carl Sagan. He is a planetary cosmologist who once
said that we are all made of star-stuff. That we are a way for the
universe to itself.”
Sagan found it remarkable that the elements we find on Earth
are also those we find amongst the stars, and that what we find
about most of what we know as matter was made by processes
inside stars themselves.

STARS - are huge celestial bodies made mostly of

hydrogen and helium that produce light and heat
from the churning nuclear forges inside their cores.

In the
beginning…
THE BIG BANG
The existence of all matter is believed to have started
with the birth of the universe. The most widely accepted explanation to the origin of
the universe is the Big Bang Theory. The evidence of this theory was first
expressed in the early 1900s, when Edwin Hubble offered an explanation that the
universe is expanding. He observed that many stars and galaxies shine with light
shifted toward the red end of the visible spectrum. This phenomenon, called
Redshift, occurs because the light waves of cosmic bodies are stretched into low-
frequency red waves as they move away from an observer on Earth.
The Big Bang Theory postulates that approximately 14 billion years ago, a hot,
dense mass about one centimeter in diameter experienced a huge explosion,
spreading its products as a fast-moving cloud of gas. The event was accompanied
by an emission of a huge amount of light. Within the first second after the explosion,
subatomic particles such as protons, neutrons, and electrons were formed. As the
expanding universe cooled, the protons, neutrons, and electrons started to fuse
(combine) to form heavier nuclei of deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen with one
neutron and one proton), some into helium, and traces amounts of lithium.

WRITTEN BY: JENELYN C. LIMEN, SST – II

SANGALI NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

Main Key
Points…
STELLAR FORMATION AND EVOLUTION
The universe
continuously expanded for several
years and the cloud of hydrogen and
helium gases condensed to form stars,
including the sun. Over millions of
years, the stars made of hydrogen
became hotter and denser. During this
Stellar Evolution, nuclear reactions
continued, which produced elements
heavier than lithium. The light elements
combined to form atoms of carbon,
neon, oxygen, silicon, and iron.
Starting from a small, young,
yellow star, successive nuclear
reactions occurred until it became a
giant red star. The reactions involved in
the formation of each new element
happened in regions or layers so called
fusion shells.
As more elements were produced,
new layers added up to the size of the
star until it became a red giant. Stars
are described to have an “onion skin
structure” as they evolved and
produced new elements.
2
My Vocabulary!
Stellar Nucleosynthesis - is the
creation (nucleosynthesis) of chemical
elements by nuclear fusion reactions
within stars.
Stellar nucleosynthesis has occurred
since the original creation of hydrogen,
helium and lithium during the Big Bang.
Nuclear Fusion - is a reaction in which
two or more atomic nuclei are combined
to form one or more different atomic
nuclei and subatomic particles (neutrons
or protons).
Isotopes - are atoms of the same
element that do not have the same
number of neutrons or atomic masses. All
isotopes of a given element have the
same number of protons but different
numbers of neutrons in each atom.
“Onion Skin
Structure of a Star”
WRITTEN BY: JENELYN C. LIMEN, SST – II
SANGALI NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
 3

Younger yellow stars made up of hydrogen were fueled by the energy released from the fusion
of hydrogen nuclei to form helium. In the outer layer of a yellow star, the burning of hydrogen
through nuclear fusion produced helium. Once enough 42𝐻𝑒 was produced, these nuclei became
concentrated at the core of the star, making the temperature hotter at the region. Hydrogen
fusion continued, but in a shell surrounding the helium core. The reactions in the hydrogen
fusion shell are as follows:

1 0
1𝐻 + 11𝐻  21𝐻 + +1𝑒

2
1𝐻 + 11𝐻  32𝐻𝑒 + 00𝑦 or
3
2𝐻𝑒 + 32𝐻𝑒  42𝐻𝑒 + 11𝐻 + 11𝐻

When the core reached the temperature enough for helium fusion to occur, helium
burning began. The outer temperature then became colder than the core, which caused the
star to become red. 84𝐵𝑒 is formed from helium fusion. Another 42𝐻𝑒 nucleus fused with 84𝐵𝑒
forming 126𝐶 . These reactions called the Triple Alpha Process which consumes only helium
and produces carbon, happened in the helium fusion shell beneath the hydrogen fusion shell.

TRIPLE ALPHA PROCESS

4 4 8
2𝐻𝑒 + 2𝐻𝑒  4𝐵𝑒

8
4𝐵𝑒 + 42𝐻𝑒  12
6𝐶

The carbon nuclei produced became more concentrated at the center of the star, as
helium was earlier. Alpha processes (or alpha ladder) take place combining alpha particle (a
helium nucleus) with another nucleus. This process is a sequence of nucleosynthesis steps by
which elements are synthesized in extreme heat inside stars. In this an alpha particle is added
to an atomic nucleus such as Carbon, Oxygen, Neon etc. After enough carbon has
accumulated, the reactions below occur, all-consuming only helium and the product of the
previous reaction.

WRITTEN BY: JENELYN C. LIMEN, SST – II

SANGALI NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
 4

CHAIN OF ALPHA PROCESSES

12 16
6𝐶 + 42𝐻𝑒  8𝑂

16 20
8𝑂 + 42𝐻𝑒  10𝑁𝑒

20
10𝑁𝑒 + 42𝐻𝑒  24
12𝑀𝑔

24 28
12𝑀𝑔 + 42𝐻𝑒  14𝑆𝑖

28 32
14𝑆𝑖 + 42𝐻𝑒  16𝑆

32 36
16𝑆 + 42𝐻𝑒  18𝐴𝑟

36 40
18𝐴𝑟 + 42𝐻𝑒  20𝐶𝑎

40
20𝐶𝑎 + 42𝐻𝑒  44
22𝑇𝑖

44 48
22𝑇𝑖 + 42𝐻𝑒  24𝐶𝑟

48 52
24𝐶𝑟 + 42𝐻𝑒  26𝐹𝑒

As stars evolve, their energy sources for nuclear fusion change, meaning that different
elements are “burned” at different stages in a star’s life. More nuclear fusions happened
between different nuclei to form the other elements. However, the production of elements
stopped when iron was formed. Since iron is the most stable nuclei, it cannot undergo nuclear
fusion. In all of the previous reactions, a great amount of energy is produced, enough to fuel
more nuclear reactions. However, in order to produce elements heavier than iron, energy input
is necessary. At this point, the star has already exhausted its nuclear fuel.

SAQ-1: What are the heavier elements formed during stellar nucleosynthesis?
Which of these elements was the most stable during star formation and
evolution?

SAQ-2: How are the heavier elements during stellar nucleosynthesis formed?

STELLAR EXPLOSION

As the red giant star exhausted

the nuclear fuel of light elements, its core
started to collapse that eventually led to the
explosion of the star. This violent explosion
is called Supernova which released a huge
amount of nuclear energy and produced,
through neutron capture and radioactive
decay, other elements heavier than iron. Supernova named SN2016aps
Different isotopes and much heavier elements were formed during a neutron capture-
and-decay process. All these elements, along with the fragments of the star during supernova,
were released into the vast space and gradually condensed to form the different planets like
Earth, new stars, and other heavenly bodies.
WRITTEN BY: JENELYN C. LIMEN, SST – II
SANGALI NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
 5

Neutron capture is a nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus and one or

more neutrons collide and merge to form a heavier nucleus.
Since neutrons have no electric charge, they can enter a nucleus more easily
than positively charged protons, which are repelled electrostatically.

Radioactive decay is the spontaneous breakdown of an atomic nucleus resulting

in the release of energy and matter from the nucleus. Remember that a
radioisotope has unstable nuclei that does not have enough binding energy to
hold the nucleus together.

Let’s Practice! (Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.)

A. Direction: Complete the statements below by filling out the missing word in every given
sentence. Use the terms inside the box to complete the sentence.

Red Giant Supernova Isotope Hydrogen Iron

1. A/n ____________ refers to an atom which has the same atomic number but different
atomic masses.
2. A violent explosion resulted to the formation of elements heavier than Iron is called
_______________.
3. The element with most stable nuclei during stellar formation is __________.
4. The appearance of the star once it starts producing elements heavier than lithium is
______________.
5. ____________ is the element that undergoes nuclear fusion to form helium.

B. Direction: Given the elements inside the box, create a fusion reaction of the elements
formed during Stellar Nucleosynthesis.

Ex. Magnesium-24
𝟐𝟎
Answer: 𝟏𝟎𝑵𝒆 + 𝟒𝟐𝑯𝒆  𝟐𝟒
𝟏𝟐𝑴𝒈

16 28 4 12
8𝑂 14𝑆𝑖 2𝐻𝑒 6𝐶

4 24 4 48
2𝐻𝑒 12𝑀𝑔 2𝐻𝑒 24𝐶𝑟

28 4 32 52
14𝑆𝑖 2𝐻𝑒 16𝑆 26𝐹𝑒

4 8 4
2𝐻𝑒 4𝐵𝑒 2𝐻𝑒

1. Neon-20 = ___________________________________

2. Sulfur-32 = ___________________________________

3. Oxygen-16 = _________________________________

4. Iron-52 = ____________________________________

5. Beryllium-8 = _________________________________

WRITTEN BY: JENELYN C. LIMEN, SST – II

SANGALI NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
 6

REMEMBER
Key Points

 The most widely accepted explanation to the origin of the universe is the Big Bang
Theory.
 During the Big Bang, subatomic particles such as protons, neutrons, and electrons were
formed. As the expanding universe cooled, the protons, neutrons, and electrons started
to fuse (combine) to form heavier nuclei of deuterium.
 Stellar nucleosynthesis is the process by which elements are formed within stars.
The star formation theory proposes that stars form due to the collapse of the
dense regions of a molecular cloud.
 Different isotopes and much heavier elements were formed during a neutron capture-
and-decay process during a violent explosion of a star the moment when its core
collapsed.

TRY
Let’s see how much have you learned today!

Directions: Write the letter of your choice on the space provided before each number.
(Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.)

_____1. Which of the following describes stellar nucleosynthesis?

 A. It is the formation of elements during a supernova explosion.
 B. It is the process by which elements are produced in gas clouds.
 C. It is the formation of light elements such as hydrogen and helium.
 D. It is the process by which elements are formed within stars.
_____ 2. Where do the reactions involved in the formation of heavier elements take place
during Stellar Formation and Evolution?
 A. protostar
 B. supernova
 C. fusion shell
 D. main sequence star
_____ 3. Which of the following is a star that has used up its hydrogen supply in the core and
switched into the thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen in the shell surrounding the core?
 A. protostar
 B. supernova
 C. red giant
 D. main sequence star
______ 4. Which of the following elements are not formed during stellar evolution?
 A. Carbon
 B. Oxygen
 C. Gold
 D. Chromium
______ 5. When does a massive star enter the stage of becoming a supernova?
 A. when the star has used up all its nuclear fuel
 B. when the chromium fusion stops
 C. when the silicon fusion stops
 D. when the star has burned all its oxygen
 ______ 6. Which of the following is/are TRUE about the formation of elements lighter than
iron in the core of the stars?
 I. When the elements combine, they release energy which can fuel the nuclear
fusion reactions in the star.

WRITTEN BY: JENELYN C. LIMEN, SST – II

SANGALI NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
 7

 II. When the elements combine, they produce a nucleus with a mass lower
than the sum of their masses.
 III. When there is an input of energy from nuclear fission reactions in the star,
the elements are formed.
 IV. When the elements combine, they produce a nucleus with a mass greater
than the sum of their masses.
 A. I only
 B. II only
 C. I and II
 D. III and IV
 ______ 7. Which nuclear process consumes only helium and produces carbon beneath the
hydrogen fusion shell inside a star?
 A. Alpha Ladder
 B. Triple Alpha Process
 C. Chain of Alpha Processes
 D. Alpha Decay
For items 8 – 10, complete the given nuclear fusion reaction of the elements
formed during Stellar Nucleosynthesis. Refer to the choices below.
 A. 32𝐻𝑒
 B. 42𝐻𝑒
 C. 24
12𝑀𝑔
 D. 4824𝐶𝑟
 ______ 8. 44
22 𝑇𝑖 + 4
2𝐻𝑒  ______

______ 9. 21𝐻 + 11𝐻  ____ + 00𝑦

______ 10. 42𝐻𝑒 + ____  84𝐵𝑒

Santiago, Karen S. & Silverio Angelina A., (2016), Physical Science 1.

Makati City: Phoenix Publishing House Inc., 2016, 7-20.
Formation of Heavier Elements during Star Formation and Evolution,
accessed November 05,
2020,https://www.facebook.com/notes/grade-11-physical-
science-vnhs/lesson-12-the-formation-of-heavier-elements-
during-star-formation-and-evolution/1880966238586259/
Cosmic origin of elements, PHYSICAL SCIENCE 1, accessed November
REFERENCE/S 04, 2020,
https://www.academia.edu/31725896/PHYSICAL_SCIENCE_1_F
ormation_of_the_Heavy_Elements_Dapul_TOPIC_LESSON_NA
ME_We_Are_All_Made_of_Star_Stuff_Formation_of_the_Heavy
_Elements
Zuckerman, Catherine. (2019). Everything you wanted to know about
stars. National Geographic. Accessed November 05, 2020,
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/universe/star
s/

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WRITTEN BY: JENELYN C. LIMEN, SST – II

SANGALI NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL