system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
When a massive star crumbles into a neutron star, the protons and electrons of the atoms that make up the star combine to become neutrons. But since the electric charge of a proton and am electron is equally opposite, so is one proton fuse with one electron is enough to become a neutron?
gpt
Yes - this is called electron capture, or inverse beta decay. Beta decay is when a neutron spits out an electron and transforms itself into a proton. Inverse beta decay is when a proton captures an electron and they combine into a neutron. Though there's also neutrinos involved to make sure things are properly conserved. When protons & electrons combine to make neutrons in a neutron star, they spit out so many neutrinos that it actually helps to push out the gas a bit, and gives a bit more energy to the supernova.