From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Atomic nuclear process
Proton capture
is a
nuclear reaction
in which an
atomic nucleus
and one or more
protons
collide and merge to form a heavier nucleus.
Since protons have positive electric charge, they are repelled
electrostatically
by the positively charged nucleus. Therefore, it is more difficult for protons to enter the nucleus compared to neutrally charged
neutrons
.
Proton capture plays an important role in the cosmic
nucleosynthesis
of proton rich isotopes.
[1]
In stars it can proceed in two ways: as a rapid (
rp-process
) or a slow process (
p-process
).
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Rauscher, T.; Patkos, A. (2011), Vertes, Attila; Nagy, Sandor; Klencsar, Zoltan; Lovas, Rezs? G. (eds.),
"Origin of the Chemical Elements"
,
Handbook of Nuclear Chemistry
, Boston, MA: Springer US, pp. 652?656,
arXiv
:
1011.5627
,
doi
:
10.1007/978-1-4419-0720-2_12
,
ISBN
978-1-4419-0719-6
, retrieved
2024-01-25
External links
[
edit
]
This process makes lithium in stars to get converted into helium in main-sequence stars.