Did the Big Bang theory create Hydrogen, Helium, and some Lithium atoms, and then those elements formed stars? Where did the rest of the elements (besides the man made ones) come from? Was it chemical reactions within the stars?
In: 3
The Big Bang didn’t create *any* elements. The End of the expansion period *after* the Big Bang allowed for the formation (from energy) of basic elements like Hydrogen, Helium and *maybe* Lithium. Atoms met other atoms and formed chemical bonds, increasing their gravity and allowing them to collect more and more atoms until planets, stars, and galaxies were formed. Stars have enough mass to cause *fusion* reactions in their cores which allowed for the creation of heavier elements at least as high up on the periodic table as iron (and maybe a little beyond that). When the star reaches a certain *age* (pla e in its fusion life cycle) it can collapse into a white dwarf, a brown dwarf, or explore in a nova or supernova (there are other edge cases), and if it collapses and novas, those heavier elements are redistributed into the universe at large. The formation of elements much above iron are less understood, but *may* have been formed in black hole collisions, neutron star bursts, or quark or strange star emanations, we’re not 99% sure. We *are* sure that it is some solar+ sized process, though.
Did the Big Bang theory create Hydrogen, Helium, and some Lithium atoms, and then those elements formed stars? Where did the rest of the elements (besides the man made ones) come from? Was it chemical reactions within the stars?
In: 3
The Big Bang didn’t create *any* elements. The End of the expansion period *after* the Big Bang allowed for the formation (from energy) of basic elements like Hydrogen, Helium and *maybe* Lithium. Atoms met other atoms and formed chemical bonds, increasing their gravity and allowing them to collect more and more atoms until planets, stars, and galaxies were formed. Stars have enough mass to cause *fusion* reactions in their cores which allowed for the creation of heavier elements at least as high up on the periodic table as iron (and maybe a little beyond that). When the star reaches a certain *age* (pla e in its fusion life cycle) it can collapse into a white dwarf, a brown dwarf, or explore in a nova or supernova (there are other edge cases), and if it collapses and novas, those heavier elements are redistributed into the universe at large. The formation of elements much above iron are less understood, but *may* have been formed in black hole collisions, neutron star bursts, or quark or strange star emanations, we’re not 99% sure. We *are* sure that it is some solar+ sized process, though.
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