Billion Tons Hydrogen "Burned"
To Helium By The Sun:
Mass (In Million Tons)
Lost By The Sun:
As it shines,
the sun is getting lighter!
Almost everybody knows Einstein's famous equation, E = m·c^2 . But what does
that formula actually tell us?
It tells us, that energy - E - and matter (mass) - m - are not as neatly separated as
our daily experience has us believe. Matter can be transformed into energy - and
vice versa, too! The factor c that connects the two is the velocity of light.
According to Einstein's formula, matter actually contains a tremendous amount
of energy.
The energy of the atom bomb that destroyed Hiroshima could be released from
less than one gramm of matter!
However, matter is not converted to energy in everyday situations. It doesn't
happen in a fire, in a furnace, in a conventional, or even a nuclear fission power
plant. In everyday processes and transformations, energy in its different forms
(e.g. electrical, heat or kinetic energy) and mass are always neatly conserved and
do not mingle with each other. Even in nuclear fission reactions, mass is a
constant.
It is only during nuclear fusion that matter is transformed to energy. If four
hydrogen nuclei fuse to form helium (the stuff that makes balloons fly and turns
your voice squeaky), the resulting helium nucleus is a bit lighter than the
hydrogen. This mass difference has been turned to energy and released in the
form of photons. Fusion occurs only under extraordinary circumstances: in a so-
called plasma, at extremely high temperatures and pressures. Conditions like
that are found in the inner core of the sun and many other stars.
The left side shows the mass (in tons) lost by the sun. The right side shows how
much hydrogen is "burned" to helium.
This phantastic
amount of energy,
radiated into space
by the sun during a
single second, would
be plenty to cover the
needs of mankind for
about a million years
- if it could somehow
be "syphoned off"
and stored. As it is,
we have to make do
with whatever small
percentage of it
arrives at the earth's
surface.
Fusion is how the sun creates
the energy that radiates through
space and finally reaches the
earth, making life possible on
our planet. But wait - does that
mean the sun is getting lighter
as it shines?
Indeed. By fusion, the sun
"burns" about 564 million tons
hydrogen per second, resulting
in 559.7 million tons of helium.
The loss of mass, about 4.3
million tons per second, is
transformed into energy. But
don't worry, it's only
0.0000000000000000002 percent
of the sun's entire mass. So yes:
the sun is constantly "losing
weight", though only a little. That
weight is turned into energy: as
much as about 4 trillion
Hiroshima bombs every second.
Present these incredible numbers to your visitors!
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