Does the Sun get Lighter as it burns ?
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 a single helium atom, and one helium atom is lighter than four hydrogen atoms. the absent mass has not simply disappeared, but has been turned into energy - which can be calculated using Albert Einstein's famous formula (see the picture) . The energy generated equals the mass times the square of the speed of light. Therefore, every second, the sum slims down by 5 million tonnes. This may sound like a huge amount ,but during the life of the sun it amounts to 0.01% of its mass.
Very nice design. Keep it up.
ReplyDelete