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srandrews t1_j4dg7p2 wrote

Spectroscopy in general. Then understanding nucleosynthesis when a star goes supernova.

Spectroscopy enables the observation of emission and absorption wavelengths of objects. The spectroscopy pattern can be determined in a lab with the respective elements.

Oxygen is in close contention with carbon it appears.

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higashidakota t1_j4dv8ys wrote

Just wanna point something out about Fluorine (not fluoride :p)

You’ll find that the even numbered elements tend to be far more abundant than the odd numbered elements. It’s because of the way massive stars use Helium as the basic building blocks of the elements. They can H to He, He to C, start fusing He and C to make O, He and O can make Ne, C and C can make Mg, O and O can make Si ..,

When you start with Helium, which has an atomic number of 2, and you fuse them you get 4, fuse more you can end up with 6, 8, 10, 12 etc, massive stars keep fusing heavier elements and use Helium , and it leaves us with an abundance of even numbered elements. About 10x more than the odd numbered (besides Hydrogen)

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seanmorris t1_j4ecktb wrote

Are prime odds less prevalent than nonprime odds?

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xXijanlinXx t1_j4efz1y wrote

Look at this and decide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_the_chemical_elements#/media/File:Elements_abundance-bars.svg

personally I think they are but there is also the unreasonably low amount of Perfect square elements which is strange

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Norwester77 t1_j4erlti wrote

Beryllium and fluorine, certainly—but sulfur is pretty common, and manganese is unusually common for an odd-numbered element.

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higashidakota t1_j4epn94 wrote

Also good to note it’s a logarithmic scale, ie two elements that are one unit apart from another means that one is 10x more abundant

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mfb- t1_j4hqz1j wrote

There is nothing special about being prime, except from the fact that all primes besides 2 are odd.

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OverthrowYourMasters t1_j4fr8sl wrote

how are the odd numbered elements made and why are they so less abundant if hydrogen is the most common? wouldn't adding a hydrogen to an even pair be common? my uneducated hypothesis is that elements are layered inside stars, so they mostly interact at the layers. however, if this were the case, then squared elements would be the most common.

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EarthSolar t1_j4gg86d wrote

I believe it’s because adding hydrogen isn’t the main way of nucleosynthesis. Check the alpha process out.

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