Recent content by DrLich

I stumbled upon the following exercise: The acceleration of a particle is given as a function of position: a(x) = (2 s^-2)x I needed to calculate the velocity at a given position x. I initially thought I could solve this by integrating the acceleration function with respect to x to find the...

Why can't I simply integrate a(x)=m*x with respect to x to determine the speed of a particle as a function of position v(x)=1/2*m*x^2+A?

I'm trying to understand why the CNO cycle is considered catalytic in stellar nucleosynthesis. I know that carbon is regenerated in the process, but how does this make the reactions faster than the proton-proton chain? Thanks in advance for your insights!

I came across an article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon-burning_process) that claims the silicon-burning process remains exothermic all the way to tin-100. Although iron is the endpoint for energy release in stellar fusion, how does the process continue to be exothermic beyond iron?

Thank you very much!

During the neon-burning process in stars, why do two Neon-20 atoms fuse into Oxygen-16 and Magnesium-24 instead of forming Calcium-40?