This Is Why Three Of The Lightest Elements Are So Cosmically Rare
Helium and carbon are made copiously in the interiors of stars. But the in-between elements? They’re rarities everywhere.
If you were to take every element in the periodic table and order them by how abundant they are in the Universe, you’d find something a little bit surprising. The most common element is hydrogen, composing nearly three-quarters of the Universe by mass. At about one-quarter is helium, produced mostly in the early stages of the hot Big Bang but also produced by the nuclear fusion occurring in most stars, including our Sun.
Beyond that is oxygen at #3, carbon at #4, followed closely by neon, nitrogen, iron, magnesium and silicon, all of which are produced in the interiors of hot-burning, massive, and giant stars. In general, heavier elements are rare and light elements are abundant, but there are three big exceptions: lithium, beryllium, and boron. Yet these three elements are the 3rd, 4th, and 5th lightest of all. Here’s the cosmic story of why they’re so rare.
