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Question
stars are composed mostly of hydrogen and helium. where do heavier elements come from?
supernovas
black holes
supergiants
main sequence stars
Supernovas are explosive events where stars reach the end of their life cycle. During a supernova, the extreme conditions (high temperatures and pressures) allow for the synthesis of heavier elements (elements with atomic numbers greater than that of iron) through processes like neutron - capture. Black holes are regions of spacetime with extremely strong gravitational fields and do not directly produce heavier elements. Supergiants are large stars in a particular stage of their evolution but do not create heavier elements in the way supernovas do. Main - sequence stars mainly fuse hydrogen into helium and do not produce heavier elements beyond a certain point (up to iron in some massive main - sequence stars, but not heavier than that in a significant amount for the origin of most heavier elements in the universe).
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Supernovas