Star formation is an inefficient process, with only a few percent of the initial cloud fragment ending up as stars.This means the initial mass of a molecular cloud fragment that formed a 2 M_SUN star was probably close to A) 1 M_SUN. B) 50 M_SUN. C) 100 M_SUN. D) 5,000 M_SUN. E) 1,000,000 M_SUN.

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Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Star formation is inefficient, with only a few percent of the cloud's mass forming stars. To form a 2 M_SUN star, the initial cloud mass would need to be significantly larger, around 100 M_SUN, to account for the inefficiency.

Star Formation Is an Inefficient Process, with Only a Few