What process provides the outward pressure needed to counteract gravity and maintain hydrostatic equilibrium in a main-sequence star?
Answer
Hydrogen fusion
The initial fusion, hydrogen burning, provides the outward pressure necessary to counteract the inward crush of gravity, maintaining hydrostatic equilibrium.
Related Questions
What element is primarily fused in the core of a star during its main sequence existence?Which reaction primarily drives hydrogen fusion in stars roughly the mass of the Sun or less?What cycle uses carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopes as catalysts during hydrogen fusion in larger, hotter stars?Approximately what core temperature is required to initiate helium fusion (the triple-alpha process)?What element is produced when three helium nuclei fuse during the triple-alpha process?What process provides the outward pressure needed to counteract gravity and maintain hydrostatic equilibrium in a main-sequence star?Which fusion stage immediately precedes oxygen fusion in the core of a very massive star?Why does fusion cease in the core once it becomes pure iron ($^{56} ext{Fe}$)?What remnant do low-mass stars (up to about eight solar masses) generally contract into after exhausting their hydrogen fuel and helium fusion capability?How does the duration of silicon burning compare to the duration of hydrogen burning in a massive star?In the layered structure of a massive dying star just before collapse, what is typically found at the very center?