What unstable isotope must temporarily exist for sun-like stars to execute the triple-alpha process creating carbon and oxygen?
Answer
Beryllium-8
After a sun-like star exhausts its core hydrogen and begins helium fusion, this process relies on sequentially combining three helium nuclei (alpha particles) to form carbon. This pathway is complicated because the intermediate step requires the temporary capture of a third helium nucleus by a pre-existing helium nucleus that has already fused with another. This combination results in the isotope beryllium-8. Beryllium-8 is inherently unstable and possesses a very short half-life; therefore, for carbon production to proceed, a third helium nucleus must immediately collide with and be captured by the beryllium-8 nucleus before the beryllium decays back into two helium nuclei.
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