fuses four protons together into a helium nucleus

[GoodTaste]

I don't get the use of "into" here. It appears to have two different meanings: (1) It means "as a result" ( fuses four protons together, and as a result, you get a helium nucleus).

(2) It means "to join/to be added up to" (fout protons fused together to join a helium nucleus - the combination would have more than 4 protons).

Which is correct?

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Neutrinos reveal final secret of Sun’s nuclear fusion
Detection of particles produced by the Sun’s core supports long-held theory about how our star is powered.

Physicists have filled in the last missing detail of how nuclear fusion powers the Sun, by catching neutrinos emanating from the star’s core.

The detection confirms decades-old theoretical predictions that some of the Sun’s energy is made by a chain of reactions involving carbon and nitrogen nuclei. This process fuses four protons together into a helium nucleus, releasing two neutrinos — the lightest known elementary particles of matter — as well as other subatomic particles and copious amounts of energy. This carbon-nitrogen (CN) reaction is not the Sun’s only fusion pathway — it produces less than 1% of the Sun’s energy — but it is thought to be the dominant energy source in larger stars.


Source: Nature 24 JUNE 2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01908-2

 

[tedmc]

It is a preposition to express the action of something which is incorporated/added to another. The result is a separate matter.

 

[GoodTaste]

It is a preposition to express the action of something which is incorporated/added to another. The result is a separate matter.

I'm sorry. Your reply raises the same question as the OP.

For example, "added to another" can be explained in two ways:

Supposed there are A and B protons and H (an atom, like Helium),
Now A is added to B and the result is the combination (A + B);
Or A and B together are added to H, and the result is a different combination: ( A + B + H).

Both are "the action of something which is incorporated/added to another" as you put forth.

So the question of the OP remains as it is.

 

[tedmc]

I think just the word "into" does not tell you about what is changed into what when something is added to another, i.e. whether the result is A+B or A+B+H. You cannot make any deduction just from the word. It is for the writer to be more explicit about the whole process, how the components interact, how they are changed, or whether they remain in the same state, and if necessary, show it in the form of equations and diagrams.