Connor Grover
Ms. Webber
Chemistry A
16 January 2015
The CNO Cycle (Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen Cycle) Nuclear processes take place when the nucleus of an atom is unstable. Nuclear process happen all around our lives, including medical, industry, energy, military, and space. The nuclear process that caught my eye the most was the CNO Cycle (Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen Cycle). This process is vital to life on Earth because it produces a majority of the energy in most stars and a small amount in the Sun. My views on this nuclear process is that the advantages are much more important and effective than the disadvantages. The CNO Cycle is so essential because it plays a key role in what keep humans, plants, and animals alive on earth. The CNO Cycle produces energy through a process of fusion. Fusion takes place when two isotopes collide and join to form a new nuclei. The original isotope gains a hydrogen atom in order to attempt to make the isotope stable. The half-life of the original unstable isotope, Nitrogen-13, is 9.97 minutes. This means that Nitrogen-13 will take 9.97 minutes to decay. Without the CNO Cycle, life on Earth may not exist because of these reasons. The CNO Cycle has many advantages. The first advantage is it helps heat and light Earth, which is important because without heat or light on Earth, there would be no life forms. The second advantage is it creates helium. Helium is important because it is needed for NASA’s endeavors in to space and is used in MRI’s (Bureau of Land Management). These are the advantages of the CNO Cycle. Not only are there advantages to the CNO Cycle, but there are also some disadvantages. The first disadvantage is that it emits gamma rays when two nuclei fuse, which is dangerous because gamma rays kill regular skin cells and cause different types of skin cancer (eHow). The second disadvantage is that just like above, it creates helium. Helium does have more advantages than disadvantages, although it can become deadly when it gets in the hands of teenagers that inhale it and can suffocate (Lenntech). These are the disadvantages of the CNO Cycle. Despite the disadvantages of the CNO Cycle, I believe that the advantages are more important than the disadvantages. The first reason is that every human, animal, and plant needs energy from the sun and stars to sustain life, although only affects 2% of the world’s population (Skin Cancer Foundation). The