The 8 ways that all the elements in the Universe are made

Summary

Sign up for the Starts With a Bang newsletter Travel the universe with Dr. Ethan Siegel as he answers the biggest questions of all. The Universe’s normal matter consists, humbly, of atoms.This artist’s illustration shows an electron orbiting an atomic nucleus, where the electron is a fundamental particle but the nucleus can be broken up into still smaller, more fundamental constituents. The simplest atom of all, hydrogen, is an electron and a proton bound together. Other atoms have more protons in their nucleus, with the number of protons defining the type of atom we’re dealing with. (Credit: Nicole Rager Fuller/NSF)Credit: Nicole Rager Fuller/NSF Every atom’s nucleus contains protons, whose number determines that element’s properties.Every atom with more than one proton in its nucleus is a mix of protons and neutrons bound together. Overall, the positively charged nucleus is responsible for the negatively charged electrons orbiting around it, as well as the physical and chemical properties inherent to each element. (Credit: U.S. Department of Energy)Credit: U.S. Department of Energy Over 100 elements, sortable into a periodic table, are presently known.This periodic table of the elements is color coded by the most common way(s) the various elements in the Universe are created, and by what process. All unstable elements lighter than plutonium are naturally created through radioactive decay, not shown here. (Credit: Cmglee/Wikimedia Commons)Credit: Cmglee/Wikimedia Commons Only eight processes occur to create them all.A visual history of the expanding Universe includes the hot, dense state known as the Big Bang and the growth and formation of structure subsequently. The full suite of data, including the observations of the light elements and the cosmic microwave background, leaves only the Big Bang as a valid explanation for all we see. (Credit: NASA/CXC/M. Weiss)Credit: NASA/CXC/M. Weiss 1.) The Big Bang. The early, hot, dense state first created protons and neutron...