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Sort of off-topic, but why is sodium more abundant than lithium?



The stellar processes that result in stable lithium are rare, like supernovas.[1] Another factor in its rarity as a material is that while it's present in a lot of things, it's not present in quantities for economical recovery.

1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/11/14/this...


Ahh, thanks! So if I understand correctly, it's because its stable isotopes can only be produced in high quantities through fission rather than fusion (otherwise they get destroyed in the same processes).


Lithium, beryllium and boron are rare because although they are produced by nuclear fusion, they are destroyed by other fusion reactions in the stars.

This property is used to distinguish low mass stars and brown dwarfs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_burning

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_lithium_problem#O...


Not a chemist, but apparently even in its stable isotopes the nucleus is barely holding together.




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