Exam 21: Stellar Explosions: Novae, Supernovae, and the Formation of the Elements

Once carbon is formed in massive star cores, the majority of nuclei formed from then on willbelong to even numbered elements, due to addition to more helium nuclei as alpha particles.

Iron nuclei are the most tightly bound nuclei, which is why their production leads to Type IIsupernovae.

Most of the energy of the supernova is carried outward via a flood of:

If successive generations of stars return material back to the interstellar medium which isenriched in heavier elements, then we expect that old stars are ________ compared to youngerstars.

The iron in our bodies came from:

Contrast the progenitors of a Type I and a Type II supernova.

Can our Sun ever become a nova? Why?

For a white dwarf to explode entirely as a Type I supernova, its mass must be:

The heaviest nuclei of all are formed:

Novae are more closely related to Type II than to Type I supernovae.

Two isotopes of the same element differ only in the number of protons.

Which statement about our current knowledge of elements is FALSE?

A star can be a supernova:

Looking at the elements that make up our world, which are the products of low versus highmass stars?

The iron we commonly find in our surroundings came from:

What is stellar nucleosynthesis?

Type I supernovae result from ________ stars which have accreted sufficient additional massvia mass transfer from a close binary companion.

What is the reason a Type I supernova slows its dimming after about 2 months?

The maximum mass of a white dwarf is about ________ times the mass of the Sun.

What would be most likely to disrupt the normal evolution of a star? Give examples of this.