The Sun
The Sun is the nuclear power plant of the solar system. It generates energy by converting mass into energy by Einstein's famous equation E=mc2. Two protons (Hydrogen nuclei) collide and create a deuterium nucleus, which hits a third proton and makes a Helium-3 nucleus. This collides with a second Helium-3, and gives Helium-4 as two protons are expelled. This process has been raging the core of our star for the last 4.6 billion years at 16 millionoC, and will continue for nearly the next five billion. When the Sun reaches the end of its life it will become a red giant and increase in size until it almost reaches the Earth. However, it is still unknown whether or not it would actually engulf our planet or not. Every second, the Sun converts around 4 million tonnes of matter into pure energy. We can calculate the amount of energy produced from that... |
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E=mc2 E = 4X109kg X (3X108m/s)2 E = 4X109 X 9X1016 E = 3.6X1026J This is the energy produced per second, and so the power is 3.6X1026W. That's 360 mega mega mega mega Watts |
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Nuclear fusion animation |
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