Why does Sun shine ?
Unlike the planets and our moon , which merely reflect
the sun’s light , the Sun emits its own light. This is because it has a surface
temperature of around 6000 degree celcius and therefore glows brightly . Most
solar radiation has a wave length near
The Sun gets lighter as it burns matter :-
The Sun converts about 700 million tonnes of hydrogen
into helium every second , and it actually does get lighter as it does so – or
, to use the correct scientific terminology , its mass is reduced . During
nuclear fusion , four hydrogen atoms are converted into one single
helium atom , and one helium atom is lighter than four hydrogen atoms . By this
reason , Sun emits more light and it become more bright .
The absent mass has not simply disappeared , but has been
turned into energy – which can be calculated using Albert Einstein’s
famous formula, E = mc2 2 . The
energy generated equals the mass times the square of the speed of light . Therfore,
every second , the Sun times down by 5 million tonnes . This may sound like a
huge amount , but during the life of the Sun it only amounts to 0.01% of it’s
mass .
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