Question

How is sunlight made?

Answer 1

The mass discrepancy when fusing Hydrogen to Helium which is converted into energy

Explanation:

There are millions of Fusion Reactions taking place in the Sun's core every second to produce this much amount of Energy. In these fusion reactions Hydrogen is converted to Helium.

The mass of 1 hydrogen atom is about 1.00794 AMU, about four of these are fused together to form one Helium atom. The actual mass of Helium atom is about 4.0026 AMU. But if you multiply 4 hydorgen atom masses you get 4.03176. This change is mass is transformed into Energy given by `E = mc^2`.

Where,

E is the Energy produced by a single hydrogen atom.
m is the change in masses or mass discrepancy.
c is the speed of light, 300,000 km/ sec.

m = 4.03176 - 4.0026

m = 0.02916 AMU

1 AMU = 1.660 x `10^-27` kg

m = 0.02916 x 1.660 x `10^-27`

m = 4.84 x `10^-29` kg

E = 4.84 x `10^-29` * `(300,000,000)^2`

E = 4.35 x `10^-12` joules.

The Luminosity of the Sun is 3.8 x `10^26` watts

How many of these reactions are required to get to the Sun's Luminosity??

n = 3.8 x `10^26` / 4.35 x `10-12`

n = 8.735 x `10^37` reactions/ sec are required to produce the Luminosity of the Sun.