Out of This World Clearly, I get a thrill out of collecting elements. It’s also exciting to think about where they all came from in the fi rst place. For my answer, I look to space. T at’s where elements form. It all started with the Big Bang.
According to this theory, a massive reaction created the universe. It also created hydrogen and helium gases, the most common elements. As the clouds of dust and gases from
Like Glue I like to think about how elements are part of everyday objects. So I collect more than pure elements. I collect objects that represent, or stand for, each element. For instance, a tube of toothpaste contains fl uorine, an element that helps build strong teeth. T e tip of a match contains phosphorus, an element that starts fi re. We need these elements. Yet one element
may be more important to us than all the others. T at’s carbon. Carbon is the sixth most abundant element in the universe. In its purest form, carbon is diamond, one of the hardest known substances. Sparkly diamonds are considered very valuable. But there’s something even more valuable about carbon. Life on Earth as we know it couldn’t exist without it. You see, all living things are made up of
the same elements. T ese include oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. Carbon combines with all of them. It’s like the glue that holds everything together. Without it, living things would just be a pile of loose atoms.
14 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER
the Big Bang cooled, stars formed. Other elements found in nature were created in atomic reactions as the stars aged and changed. Many elements come from dying stars. Take our sun, for example. Right now, it’s mostly made up of hydrogen. Massive reactions in its core turn hydrogen into helium. In a few billion years, our sun will
change. It will cool and expand. New reactions will turn helium into carbon, the building block of life.
Making Elements Other stars are changing right now. When they fi nally die, reactions inside them will make oxygen and other elements. Many elements come from the most massive stars. T e stars explode and release large amounts of energy and elements. T ese elements driſt out into space.
Over billions of years, some form new stars and planets, like Earth. So look around. Everything you see is made of elements that once were part of an exploding star. Even the elements that make you, you.
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