Posted: Jul 19, 2013 7:09 pm
Evolving wrote:
And once the element emerges from the disintegrating (exploding) star, it’s once again the atomic number which is most interesting, because that determines what element the nucleus belongs to, and outside that extreme environment within the star, that is what is most relevant, because the nucleus may now be able to acquire some electrons and some proper chemistry can ensue. Even biology, if the nucleus is really lucky.
Yes, the atomic number is interesting whether it is in the Sun or on the Earth.
However, there is no reason to base the atomic number on the number of protons, at least in the case of the Sun where there are no significant proton-electron chemical interactions.