Question

why do more massive stars change and die faster?
as you remember from the text, forces within a star, inside a star gravity pushes hydrogen
elements together so close and with such a force that sometimes these elements fuse into
heavier elements. this game simulates just that! the goal is to make one tile of 56fe, or iron - 56.
a star needs to have a lot of gravity in order to push elements together tightly enough to create
elements. as you might remember, the more mass a star has, the more gravity it has.
in order to play this game, you just need to press any of the four arrow keys
to make a move. this causes all the tiles to slide as far to that side as possible.
every time you manage to combine two element tiles, the score will increase.
remember from the video that when two atoms are combined, some mass is
transformed into energy. in the game, when you combine two elements, your
score will increase, so for now lets call the points in the game energy points.
the higher your score, the more mass was transformed into energy. finally,
when you reach game over, this means your star has died. https://dimit.me/fe26/

1. what force is important in the process of nuclear fusion in a star?

using the fe 26 game to model nuclear fusion in a star
work with a partner in order to model nuclear fusion in a low and a high mass star with the fe
26 game. one partner should act as timekeeper and recorder of observations, while the other
partner plays the game.
trial 1:

1. the timekeeper/observer sets the timer to 60 seconds.
2. play the game slowly, by pressing the arrow keys on the computer..

a) how much nuclear fusion were you able to perform in 60 seconds?
what elements were you able to create?
trial 2:

1. the timekeeper/observer sets the timer to 60 seconds.
2. play the game fast, by pressing the arrow keys on the computer..

b) how much nuclear fusion were you able to perform in 60 seconds?
what elements were you able to create?

1. describe the relationship between the mass of a star and its gravity.

Explanation:

Question 1

From the text, it says "inside a star gravity pushes hydrogen elements together so close and with such a force that sometimes these elements fuse into heavier elements". So the force important for nuclear fusion in a star is gravity.

This is a practical observation question. When playing the game slowly, the number of nuclear fusions (combining element tiles) will be less compared to playing fast. The elements created would start from lighter ones like hydrogen combining to form heavier ones, maybe helium, lithium, etc., up to some intermediate elements (since playing slowly, less combinations). But the actual answer depends on the game play. For example, if in 60 seconds, you combined 3 times, and created helium, lithium. (Note: This is a sample, actual answer from game play.)

When playing the game fast, more arrow key presses lead to more tile combinations, so more nuclear fusions. The elements created would be more, maybe reaching heavier elements like carbon, oxygen, etc., or closer to iron. For example, if in 60 seconds, you combined 8 times, and created Carbon, Oxygen, Silicon. (Sample, actual from game play.)

Answer:

Gravity

Question 2a (Trial 1)