White Dwarf Question: What is a White dwarf made of and how does it support its own weight?

Question

Does its tempterature make any difference? What will eventually happen to this White Dwarf?

Answer 1

White dwarfs consist mainly of carbon and oxygen, the end fusion products of the medium-sized stars they are the remnants of. The matter in a white dwarf is compressed to the state called electron degeneracy. This is the point at which the main thing keeping the electrons apart is the quantum force that results from the Pauli exclusion principle. One interesting property of these dead stars is that the more massive they are, the smaller they are.

White dwarfs very slowly lose their heat, eventually going cold and becoming "black dwarfs". The universe is not old enough to have produced any of those. Some possible 12 billion year old white dwarfs have been identified, with temperatures under 4000K. As the white dwarf cools, it changes from plasma to a crystalline solid. Some partially crystallized white dwarfs are believed to have been identified.

Answer 2

A white dwarf is not made of anything which can be easily described outside the context of a white dwarf itself. It is essentially a kind of a degenerate matter which, while made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, is so dense that the particles move at a very high average velocity even though the white dwarf itself is quite cool compared to other stars. This is due to complex quantum phenomena. A white dwarf supports its own weight (that is, it does not collapse) due a a special force called electron degeneracy pressure. Simply put, the Pauli Exclusion Principle will not allow two electrons to occupy the same space (or quantum state), and so the white dwarf is literally kept from collapsing by electrons which would have to occupy identical quantum states in order to allow further compression. If a white dwarf is heavy enough (about 1.44 times the weight of our sun), however, this pressure can be overcome. The result is an even denser object supported by neutron degeneracy pressure, which is even stronger. This object is called a neutron star.

Answer 3

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White Dwarf Question: What is a White dwarf made of and how does it support its own weight?
Does its tempterature make any difference? What will eventually happen to this White Dwarf?

Answer 4

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