What is the theory about iron being the most stable element in the universe? #iron #stability #cosmology
Have you heard about the theory that suggests iron will be the only element left when the universe degrades? #scientifictheory #iron #universe
Curious about the idea that iron is the most stable element in the universe? Let’s dive into this intriguing concept! #iron #stability #scientifictheory
Background:
I remember watching a video by a scientist YouTuber who mentioned that iron is considered the most stable element.
Theory:
There is a theory that proposes that when the universe degrades, only iron will remain.
Exploration:
I’m interested in learning more about this theory and its implications for the future of the universe. Can anyone shed light on this topic?
all elements (besides iron) release energy when split into smaller atoms (like uranium in a nuclear reactor) or when fused together with other atoms (like hydrogen in the sun).
and in both cases the path to releasing energy leads towards iron.
iron is *always* energy negative with fusion or fission, it sits at the very bottom of that “energy valley” so it doesnt want to do anything, and everything that tries to do something with iron needs energy to do so from somewhere else
stuff generally always wants to release energy if possible, so nuclear reactions tend towards moving closer to being iron in the end.
so at the very end, when theres every bit of nuclear energy released, theres only iron left.
It is tecnicaly Nickel-62 not iron that hacve the highet nucalr binding energy per nucleon of 8.7946 MeV. It is followed by Iron-58 at 8.7922MeV and Iron-56 at 8.7903MeV
It is all about Nuclear Binding Energy, the energy required to remove a nuclaron, a protons or a neutond, for the core of a atom. If a nucalr reacon create a element with higher nuclear binding energy then energy is released. A graph of it look like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_binding_energy#/media/File:Binding_energy_curve_-_common_isotopes.svg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_binding_energy#/media/File:Binding_energy_curve_-_common_isotopes.svg) You can see if you mege to light element the binding energy increase. The same for if you split heavy element. Nickel-62 that have the highest biding energy so it can be split or merged to release energy.
The reasons it is usaly stated as Iron-56 That is because it have the lowest mass per nucleon not lowest binding energy. Protons have slightly heavier then neutons and Iron-56 have a higher percentage of protons then Iron-58 or Nickel-62. Iron-56 is also produce a lot more in nuclear reaction in stars.
Iron notationally is among the very stable elements because of the nuclear binding [energy ](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/what-is-energy/)per nucleon which is the maximum among all elements. This entails that iron nuclei possess, so to speak, such a high attractive force that binds nucleus together to a large extent achieving a certain stability which doesn’t permit the nucleus itself to undergo inter-nuclear reactions in future. It has become one the reason why the iron is so dominant in the Earth’s core. Indeed, it has been playing a vital role in the Earth’s geology and magnetic field.