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GCSE Physics · key term
The small, hot and extremely dense core remnant left after a Sun-like red giant loses its outer layers.
Used by AQA, Edexcel and OCR
Specification 4.8.1.2 · Paper 2
The hot, dense core left after a red giant loses its outer layers.
Revise: The life cycle of a starLater, those outer layers drift away and leave a hot, dense core called a white dwarf. The white dwarf gradually cools; a completely cooled remnant is called a black dwarf. This last stage is a predicted part of the life cycle, not an object we currently observe.
Specification 7.16P · Paper 1
Revise: Star Evolution (Solar Mass)The outer layers are lost into space, leaving the compact core behind. This remnant is a white dwarf.
Specification P8.3c · Paper 2 (Foundation), Paper 4 (Higher)
A compact, hot remnant left after a Sun-like star sheds its outer layers; it no longer sustains fusion.
Revise: Lifecycle of a starA star like the Sun becomes a red giant. It eventually sheds its outer layers as a planetary nebula, leaving a hot, dense core called a white dwarf. With no sustained fusion, the white dwarf gradually cools.
Give both branches of the life cycle: a Sun-sized star becomes a red giant and white dwarf; a much more massive star becomes a red supergiant and undergoes a supernova.
Use the exact order required by the specification: nebula → main-sequence star → red giant → white dwarf.
A white dwarf is the hot, dense remnant of the core, not the expanded outer part of the red giant.
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