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SPExplanation 👇
It is a common misconception that the Sun is “burning” like a campfire or a candle. On Earth, fire is a chemical reaction called combustion, which requires oxygen. In space, however, the Sun uses a completely different process that doesn’t need oxygen at all.
The Sun is powered by nuclear fusion, not chemical combustion. In combustion, atoms rearrange themselves to form new molecules (like wood and oxygen turning into ash and smoke). In fusion, the centers of the atoms (nuclei) actually smash together to create entirely new elements.
Instead of oxygen, the Sun uses its own massive gravity as “fuel” to start the reaction:
• Extreme Pressure: The Sun is so massive that its gravity crushes its core with incredible force.
• Extreme Heat: This pressure creates temperatures of about 15 million°C.
• The Reaction: At these temperatures, hydrogen atoms move so fast that they overcome their natural urge to repel each other. They smash together and fuse to become helium.
Mass Turning into Energy :-
When those hydrogen atoms fuse into helium, the new helium atom actually weighs slightly less than the hydrogen atoms that made it. That “missing” mass isn’t gone; it is converted into a massive amount of energy (heat and light) according to Einstein’s famous equation
#physics #sun #solarsystem #astrophysics #astrology #facts #spacefacts
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