Table of Contents
What do you get if a hydrogen atom and a helium atom fuse together?
nuclear fusion
Overall, nuclear fusion in our sun combines two hydrogen atoms (the smallest and lightest atoms) together to form one helium atom (a slightly larger atom). When this combination occurs, energy is released in the form of gamma rays, which are very high energy rays of radiation.
Is the joining of hydrogen atoms to form helium?
In the core of the Sun hydrogen is being converted into helium. This is called nuclear fusion. It takes four hydrogen atoms to fuse into each helium atom. During the process some of the mass is converted into energy.
What is hydrogen and helium made of?
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, accounting for about 75 percent of its normal matter, and was created in the Big Bang. Helium is an element, usually in the form of a gas, that consists of a nucleus of two protons and two neutrons surrounded by two electrons.
What element is the result of helium fusion?
In all cases, helium is fused to carbon via the triple-alpha process, i.e., three helium nuclei are transformed into carbon via 8Be. This can then form oxygen, neon, and heavier elements via the alpha process.
What happens when you mix hydrogen and helium?
Fusion is the process that powers the sun and the stars. It is the reaction in which two atoms of hydrogen combine together, or fuse, to form an atom of helium. In the process some of the mass of the hydrogen is converted into energy. Thus fusion has the potential to be an inexhaustible source of energy.
How many atoms make up helium?
Explanation: 1 He molecule contains only 1 atom(as helium is monoatomic). So, 1 mole He gas contains 2×6. 023×10^23 He atoms.
What happens when you combine 2 hydrogen atoms?
When two hydrogen atoms come close enough to each other, their electrons are attracted to the proton of the other atom. Because there is both a strong enough attraction betweeen atoms and room for electrons in the outer energy level of both atoms, the atoms share electrons. This forms a covalent bond.
What happens when two helium 3 atoms collide?
Two helium-3 nuclei collide, creating a helium-4 nucleus plus two extra protons that escape as two hydrogen. Technically, a beryllium-6 nuclei forms first but is unstable and thus disintegrates into the helium-4 nucleus.
How does helium join with another hydrogen atom?
Hydrogen must join with another Hydrogen H 2 or another atom to fill the 1s orbital. This means the Helium is stable as a single atom and does not join with another Helium or other atoms.
How many neutrons does helium need to be stable?
Helium has two protons and needs to have at least two neutrons to provide stability and hold the positively charged protons together. ( With only one proton in Hydrogen there is no positive to positive repulsion and so no need of neutrons.) Hydrogen has only 1 electron in the 1 s energy shell # 1s^1#.
How is the potential energy of a hydrogen atom chosen?
The figure on the right shows the shape of U(r) in a plane containing the origin. The potential energy is chosen to be zero at infinity. The electron in the hydrogen atom is confined in the potential well, and its total energy is negative.
How are the electrons in a hydrogen atom degenerate?
The electron in the hydrogen atom is confined in the potential well, and its total energy is negative. The energy levels are degenerate, meaning that the electron in the hydrogen atom can be in different states, with different wave functions, labeled by different quantum numbers, and still have the same energy.