What Role Does Nuclear Fusion Play In The Sun
1. What are the six regions of the Sun?
The Sun’s regions are the core, the radiative zone, the convective zone, the visible surface, the chromospheres, and the corona. The core, radiative zone, and convective zone make up the interior of the Sun. The visible surface, chromosphere, and corona make up the exterior of the Sun.
2. What is nuclear fusion? What role does nuclear fusion play in the Sun?
Nuclear fusion happens when two atomic nuclei combine to form one heavier nucleus. Since the majority of the atoms at the core of the Sun are ionized, the nuclei and electrons are stripped from each other in the heat. About 75% percent of these nuclei are hydrogen and about 25% of the nuclei at the core are helium.The nuclei occasionally collide with each other and combine together to create a heavier nucleus. The Sun's core is at the perfect temperature to speed the positively charged nuclei up enough that they will collide. The high temperature and other conditions that promote nuclear fusion happen because of the Sun's gravitational equilibrium. Gravitational equilibrium is the balance of gravity pulling inward at the same time that pressure is pushing out. This makes the sun stay the same size, and it helps to keep the core hot and dense enough to allow nuclear fusion to …show more content…
happen.
3. How are sunspots and solar flares similar? How are they different?
Sunspots are cooler than the other areas of the Sun's surface, making the sunspots appear less bright. The temperature of sunspots is often around 4,000 K, while the plasma around these cooler areas is around 5,800 K. Solar flares are storms on the surface of the Sun that create eruptions of charged particles and X-rays into space. They are a sudden, fast,and bright. Both exist because of ]magnetic energy created just below the solar surface.
4. What is a solar eclipse? A solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the sun and earth and blocks the sen. Full eclipses are when the sun is completely covered by the moon and a partial or annular eclipse is when the sun is only partly hidden.
1. Imagine that you are traveling in a spaceship to the center of the Sun. What would you experience and see in each of the Sun's regions?
In the sun's core it is 27 million degrees Celsius, and has a pressure about 200 billion times of what we feel on earth. The radiative zone the plasma here is relatively calm when compared with the plasma at the surface of the Sun, but the visible light is trillions of times brighter. Next The convective zone thermal columns carry hot materials from the radiative zone to the photosphere, the surface of the Sun. Once cooled, these materials drop back to the base of the convective zone where they are heated again by the radiative zone. It is in the photosphere that energy escapes the Sun and begins traveling outward to places such as Earth, which looks like a pot of boiling water. The chromosphere is a reddish color and the temperature in the chromosphere gradually increases away from the Sun. The coronas average temperature is
2. What is the proton-proton chain reaction? Describe this process.
The pressure and temperature created in the core is enough to force the hydrogen nuclei, or individual protons, to come together in nuclear fusion. Energy is created as the process of nuclear fusion happens through the steps of the proton-proton chain reaction. This process happens in different steps:Two hydrogen nuclei, also called protons, fuse together. This forms a deuterium nucleus that has one proton and one neutron. How does the deuterium nucleus get that neutron? One of the protons from the original hydrogen nuclei is converted into a neutron during the fusion process. A neutrino, a subatomic particle with very little mass, is also created,The deuterium nucleus fuses with another proton. This forms the nucleus for helium-3, which contains two protons and one neutron. A gamma ray photon is also created and released, Two of the new helium-3 fuse together to form helium-4, which has two protons and two neutrons. The proton–proton chain reaction is one of two nuclear fusion reactions, along with the CNO cycle, by which stars convert hydrogen to helium and which dominates in stars the size of the Sun or smaller.
3. How does the Sun manage to maintain an environment in its core that is conducive to nuclear fusion?
Gravitational equilibrium helps to keep the core of the Sun at the right level of nuclear fusion.
If a bunch of hydrogen nuclei begin colliding, this would increase the rate of nuclear fusion. More energy would be released and the core of the Sun would heat up because more energy would be present. This change in temperature would increase the pressure in the Sun and it would push harder outward on the gravity coming in. This would allow the core of the Sun to expand enough that the core would begin to cool again. As the core cooled, the of nuclear fusion would drop back down to an optimal rate, the core would reduce in size, and the pressure and gravitational force would balance each other
out.
4. As the Sun ages, what will happen to life here on Earth? Why? Over time the sun's core will get hotter and hotter until it becomes a red giant that. Also, as time goes on the sun changes and the orbit of the planets move outwards and away from the sun. There is evidence that the sn will destroy the earth eventual but if that does not happen earth will still be impossible because it will have gotten so hot from the sun's rising temperature that water would not be able to stay on the earth.
5. How can solar weather affect our lives on Earth?
When a solar flare happens, it can affect all parts of the Sun's atmosphere. Inside the flare, it can reach up to 100 million degrees K. This activity in the Sun's atmosphere can lead to effects in solar weather, including the weather that is near Earth. One of the potential problems with solar flares is that they can create problems for spacecraft and astronauts in space because of the hard X-rays emitted. The soft X-rays can also affect radio communication.
The Sun’s regions are the core, the radiative zone, the convective zone, the visible surface, the chromospheres, and the corona. The core, radiative zone, and convective zone make up the interior of the Sun. The visible surface, chromosphere, and corona make up the exterior of the Sun.
2. What is nuclear fusion? What role does nuclear fusion play in the Sun?
Nuclear fusion happens when two atomic nuclei combine to form one heavier nucleus. Since the majority of the atoms at the core of the Sun are ionized, the nuclei and electrons are stripped from each other in the heat. About 75% percent of these nuclei are hydrogen and about 25% of the nuclei at the core are helium.The nuclei occasionally collide with each other and combine together to create a heavier nucleus. The Sun's core is at the perfect temperature to speed the positively charged nuclei up enough that they will collide. The high temperature and other conditions that promote nuclear fusion happen because of the Sun's gravitational equilibrium. Gravitational equilibrium is the balance of gravity pulling inward at the same time that pressure is pushing out. This makes the sun stay the same size, and it helps to keep the core hot and dense enough to allow nuclear fusion to …show more content…
happen.
3. How are sunspots and solar flares similar? How are they different?
Sunspots are cooler than the other areas of the Sun's surface, making the sunspots appear less bright. The temperature of sunspots is often around 4,000 K, while the plasma around these cooler areas is around 5,800 K. Solar flares are storms on the surface of the Sun that create eruptions of charged particles and X-rays into space. They are a sudden, fast,and bright. Both exist because of ]magnetic energy created just below the solar surface.
4. What is a solar eclipse? A solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the sun and earth and blocks the sen. Full eclipses are when the sun is completely covered by the moon and a partial or annular eclipse is when the sun is only partly hidden.
1. Imagine that you are traveling in a spaceship to the center of the Sun. What would you experience and see in each of the Sun's regions?
In the sun's core it is 27 million degrees Celsius, and has a pressure about 200 billion times of what we feel on earth. The radiative zone the plasma here is relatively calm when compared with the plasma at the surface of the Sun, but the visible light is trillions of times brighter. Next The convective zone thermal columns carry hot materials from the radiative zone to the photosphere, the surface of the Sun. Once cooled, these materials drop back to the base of the convective zone where they are heated again by the radiative zone. It is in the photosphere that energy escapes the Sun and begins traveling outward to places such as Earth, which looks like a pot of boiling water. The chromosphere is a reddish color and the temperature in the chromosphere gradually increases away from the Sun. The coronas average temperature is
2. What is the proton-proton chain reaction? Describe this process.
The pressure and temperature created in the core is enough to force the hydrogen nuclei, or individual protons, to come together in nuclear fusion. Energy is created as the process of nuclear fusion happens through the steps of the proton-proton chain reaction. This process happens in different steps:Two hydrogen nuclei, also called protons, fuse together. This forms a deuterium nucleus that has one proton and one neutron. How does the deuterium nucleus get that neutron? One of the protons from the original hydrogen nuclei is converted into a neutron during the fusion process. A neutrino, a subatomic particle with very little mass, is also created,The deuterium nucleus fuses with another proton. This forms the nucleus for helium-3, which contains two protons and one neutron. A gamma ray photon is also created and released, Two of the new helium-3 fuse together to form helium-4, which has two protons and two neutrons. The proton–proton chain reaction is one of two nuclear fusion reactions, along with the CNO cycle, by which stars convert hydrogen to helium and which dominates in stars the size of the Sun or smaller.
3. How does the Sun manage to maintain an environment in its core that is conducive to nuclear fusion?
Gravitational equilibrium helps to keep the core of the Sun at the right level of nuclear fusion.
If a bunch of hydrogen nuclei begin colliding, this would increase the rate of nuclear fusion. More energy would be released and the core of the Sun would heat up because more energy would be present. This change in temperature would increase the pressure in the Sun and it would push harder outward on the gravity coming in. This would allow the core of the Sun to expand enough that the core would begin to cool again. As the core cooled, the of nuclear fusion would drop back down to an optimal rate, the core would reduce in size, and the pressure and gravitational force would balance each other
out.
4. As the Sun ages, what will happen to life here on Earth? Why? Over time the sun's core will get hotter and hotter until it becomes a red giant that. Also, as time goes on the sun changes and the orbit of the planets move outwards and away from the sun. There is evidence that the sn will destroy the earth eventual but if that does not happen earth will still be impossible because it will have gotten so hot from the sun's rising temperature that water would not be able to stay on the earth.
5. How can solar weather affect our lives on Earth?
When a solar flare happens, it can affect all parts of the Sun's atmosphere. Inside the flare, it can reach up to 100 million degrees K. This activity in the Sun's atmosphere can lead to effects in solar weather, including the weather that is near Earth. One of the potential problems with solar flares is that they can create problems for spacecraft and astronauts in space because of the hard X-rays emitted. The soft X-rays can also affect radio communication.