Where do the electrons released from the clutches of nuclei in the Sun's plasma go? Do they go to the product nuclei of the nuclear fusion reaction in the Sun (i.e. He)? Or do they remain on the surface of the Sun?
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asked Jan 21, 2014 at 10:55
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$\begingroup$ This almost begs the question - If the deuterium and tridium nuclear reactions each produce a positron, each of those presumably 'react' with an electron, annihilating each other, but the protons of the three hydrogen atoms starting the reaction are still around. Unless there is a source of electrons, wouldn't the positive charge in the sun accumulate from these deuterium, tritium and helium ions that are accumulating? If electrons bind with those helium nuclei to form stable atoms, where did those electrons come from? $\endgroup$– jediCurmudgeonCommented Jun 9, 2020 at 21:42
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1$\begingroup$ This isn't an answer, and should probably be converted to a comment. Regardless, if there are free protons in the solar plasma, the corollary is that there are also free electrons. Sum them up along with all other charged species and you'll find the Sun is electrically neutral to a very high precision. Note that in the diagram, six free electrons are implicit in the left side. Two electrons are annihilated by positrons, leaving four free electrons on the right side, which is exactly enough to neutralise the positive charges. $\endgroup$– Nicolau Saker NetoCommented Jun 10, 2020 at 0:38
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Some of the electrons will react with positrons formed during the fusion processes; they annihilate each other and give off high-energy radiation (also called gamma rays):
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But this process happens at the core, and there is no way that those electrons get out to the surface. So my best guess is that the electrons which don't get annihilated just stay there in the core plasma. I do not think that they combine with the $\ce{^{4}_2 He^{2+}}$ particles formed by this chain, because the temperature is still too high. So you start out with 6 protons and 6 electrons (for electrical neutrality reasons), two electrons get annihilated in the process and you end up with a doubly positively charged helium particle and two protons and four electrons. So the electrical neutrality is not violated.
There is not only the core of the sun but also the outer layers and the corona, from where we observe the solar wind, which is a stream of particles, mainly electrons and protons. So there you have some electrons that escape the sun. But these are not the electrons from the core, they come from the surface of the sun.
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$\begingroup$ By which process the beryllium nucleus splits up into He and 2 protons. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 21, 2014 at 13:13
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$\begingroup$ It's the process called radioactive decay: $\ce{^6 Be}$ has a half-life of 5.0 zeptoseconds, so it decays very very quickly into two protons and the helium particle. $\endgroup$– tschoppiCommented Jan 21, 2014 at 13:27
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$\begingroup$ I know that. Which type of radioactive decay is that? Can you name that decay? all I know is alpha, beta +, beta- and gamma decays. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 23, 2014 at 0:25
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