While the sun rises each day that you wake up, like clock work, you may not have given much thought to how the sun produces energy and how the sun’s rays travel across space in order to reach Earth. To find out a few interesting facts about how the sun produces energy in its core, simply continue reading. As a bonus, you’ll also learn a few fascinating facts about the sun, which may surprise you.
How does the sun produce energy?
The sun produces energy through a complex process called nuclear fusion. During this process the high pressure and temperature of the sun’s core, causes nuclei to start separating from their electrons. During the sun’s nuclear fusion, the sun produces masses of light and heat, which eventually reaches Earth.
You may be interested to learn the sun’s core, is the only part of the sun that is capable of producing heat through nuclear fusion. The rest of the sun, is simply heated from the sun’s core, through the sun’s various layers. When warmth escapes the sun’s outer surface it escapes the sun into space as kinetically charged particles or sunlight. The latter of which, you are probably far more familiar with.
How much energy does the sun typically release per second?
The sun release approximately 4.26 million metric tons, every second. If you’re not sure about how much energy the sun releases per second, the sun produces 384.6 septillion watts of power per second. If you can’t fathom how much energy 384.6 septillion watts is, just think that it’s equivalent to the amount of energy which would be created by approximately 1,820,000,000 Tsar bombs. If you’ve never heard of a Tsar bomb before, it’s the most powerful thermo nuclear bomb which has been created. Which explains how the sun’s rays are so powerful on Earth, even though the sun is located far away from Earth.
How can mankind harness the power of the sun:
While mankind has relied on the sun’s energy for thousands of years, in order to grow crops, humans are now harnessing the power of the sun’s rays to power homes, businesses and large buildings. You can even power an electric car using solar panels. If you’d like to harness the sun’s incredible power in order to decrease your own power bill, it’s definitely well worth finding out more information about how you can have solar panels PEI installed on your home.
How big is the sun?
If you’re curious as to how big the sun is, you could comfortably fit 100 Earths inside the sun.
How fast does the sun travel?
The sun travels approximately 220 km per second.
So when you wake up tomorrow morning and see the sun in the sky, you’ll know exactly how the sun produces energy and how its rays travel through space to reach planet Earth. As well as how much power the sun is capable of creating every second. Who knows, you may even be interested in investing in solar panels for your house.
