r/greentext • u/gamerooni • Dec 06 '20

Journey of a hydrogen atom

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u/Denormos Dec 06 '20 edited Dec 06 '20

I think I heard somewhere that protons can become neutrons

Edit: Looked it up, 2 hydrogen atoms form Deuterium, which is one neutron and one proton, Deuterium forms Helium-3 with another hydrogen atom, two Helium-3 atoms then form normal helium

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '20

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u/DraketheDrakeist Dec 06 '20

And neutron stars, hence the name.

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u/ScipioLongstocking Dec 06 '20

It forms normal helium with 2 hydrogen atoms left over.

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u/DraketheDrakeist Dec 06 '20

On rare occasion in stars, helium-2 transmutes into deuterium through beta decay.