Eli5 Why can’t Stars use Iron in nuclear fusion?
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They can. They do it during the supernovae. However, it consumes energy rather than producing it, so rather than generating more radiation pressure that stop gravitational collapse, it reduces the amount of radiation pressure and accelerate collapse. Therefore, the supernova happens very fast. Still, all elements heavier than iron also comes from nuclear fusion and nuclear breeding (neutrons being absorbed by nucleus) and there are a lot of them.
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