11th Week: The s,r and p-Process B
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S Process
The s-process elements are not produced in normal ways. Up until this point in nucleosynthesis stars burn to produce energy. The s-process now goes beyond the iron/nickel limit of binding energy. These elements are produced mainly by a large neutron burst. These neutrons will slowly be captured by nuclei such as nickel which will then immediately beta decay to copper. This process then continues all the way to bismuth then stops as bismuth is alpha unstable.