Why does the fuel consumption rate escalate so steeply with increasing stellar mass?

Answer

A greater percentage of material resides in the highly compressed, fusion-capable regions.

The fuel consumption rate increases much faster than the simple increase in mass due to internal structural scaling. In larger, more massive stars, the cube of the radius (which scales the internal volume and thus the material subject to gravitational compression) outpaces the square of the radius (which scales surface area). This geometric reality means that a significantly larger proportion of the total material in a high-mass star is located within the extremely hot, dense central regions capable of efficient fusion. Consequently, more fuel is actively participating in burning at any given moment compared to a lower-mass star, causing the high-mass star to exhaust its reserves rapidly.

Why does the fuel consumption rate escalate so steeply with increasing stellar mass?

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