From stars to nuclear power plants, these two reactions fuel many important processes; let's talk about them. Atoms are the basic particles that make up chemical elements, and generally consist of a nucleus with positively charged protons and uncharged neutrons, each with a mass of 1 AMU (1.
As established near the end of Shine bright like a diamond, the reason that neutron stars don't continue to collapse in on themselves is due to neutron degeneracy pressure, which is the outward pressure exerted by neutrons on the particles closing in on them. However, if the core
The Life of a Star Stars are all around us, from the shining sun that makes life on planet Earth possible, to the twinkling lights in the night sky. A star is a luminous ball of gas, mainly made up of hydrogen and helium, that is held together by its
Yes, the reason you can see the sunset and watch your favorite television show is because of light. However, there is so much more to it than that. What is Light? Our universe is swarming with incomprehensibly small waves of electromagnetic radiation that vary in size and property. The sizes