how does the sun create energy through fusion?
113667
2 protons (hydrogen nuclei) slam together and form a positron, a deuterium nuclei (heavy hydrogen) and a neutrino. The positron immeditally slams into an electron and turns into energy. The deuterium nuclei may continue and slams into another proton, this time forming a He3 nuclei and another neutrino. Two He3 nuclei can fuse to form 1 He4 and 2 protons. \nSo it´s 4H -> 1 He + neutrions + energy
391725
In physics, nuclear fusion is the process by which multiple nuclei join together to form a heavier nucleus. It is accompanied by the release or absorption of energy depending on the masses of the nuclei involved. Iron and nickel nuclei have the largest binding energies per nucleon of all nuclei and therefore are the most stable. The fusion of two nuclei lighter than iron or nickel generally releases energy while the fusion of nuclei heavier than them absorbs energy; vice-versa for the reverse process, nuclear fission.\n\nNuclear fusion of light elements releases the energy that causes stars to shine and hydrogen bombs to explode. Nuclear fusion of heavy elements (absorbing energy) occurs in the extremely high-energy conditions of supernova explosions. Nuclear fusion in stars and supernovae is the primary process by which new natural elements are created. It is this reaction that is harnessed in fusion power.\n\nIt takes considerable energy to force nuclei to fuse, even those of the least massive element, hydrogen. But the fusion of lighter nuclei, which creates a heavier nucleus and a free neutron, will generally release more energy than it took to force them together — an exothermic process that can produce self-sustaining reactions.\n\nThe energy released in most nuclear reactions is much larger than that for chemical reactions, because the binding energy that holds a nucleus together is far greater than the energy that holds electrons to a nucleus. For example, the ionization energy gained by adding an electron to a hydrogen nucleus is 13.6 electron volts -- less than one-millionth of the 17 MeV released in the D-T (deuterium-tritium) reaction shown to the top right.\n\nThe steps of the main cycle of nuclear fusion in stars were worked out by Hans Bethe.
622750
The sun operates like all other stars in it uses fusion to create its energy.  The sun is made of hydrogen and when a hydrogen molecule is combined with an oxygen molecule at a highspeed it becomes helium and the excess energy from the two molecules combining gives the sun its heat.  Gravity is working to crush the star and its fusion energy is working to inflate it.  This is what gives the star its spherical shape.
952509
The sun balances it's tendancy to gravitationally collapse with radiation pressure.  Once nuclear fusion stops, the radiation pressure won't be able to stop the sun from collapsing anymore.
802343
The process of fusion: 4H  ----->  1He + 2positrons + neutrinoes\nwhich is:                       4p ------>  1AlphaParticle + 2 positrons\n \nie   4 protons fuse together to give an alpha particle.\n\nIt is very unlikely that 4 protons will be in the same vicinity for this reaction to occur.\n\nIn fusion reactors we use deuterium to fuse into helium.\n                  1D  +  1D    -------->   He\nas we only need two particles to collide. (This is much more likely than 4 protons colliding at once. ) \n\nOn the sun we need a way of storing the hydrogen nuclei until we have gathered 4 of them together and they can then split off as the helium nucleus.  The only store you will find on the sun is the collection of slightly heavier atomic nuclei(known by astronomers as metals and meaning any nucleus heavier than helium).\nThere are a number of pathways thought to be available for this process which proceeds through the weak nuclear reaction at a density of 1 or 2 reactions in each cubic metre of the sun. (see stellar physics books for details).  This process is the equivalent to Catalysis in ordinary chemistry.\n\nThis would be hopeless for the generation of energy in a tokamak    so we could not use this process on earth for the generation of electrical power.
53664
The heat and light in the sun is due to the vast amounts of energy produced at the core. At the core hdrogen atoms combine together to form Helium atoms due to the pressure (billions of atmospheres.) and temperature (15 million degrees C). This reaction is called fusion. \n\n  However the mass of the helium atoms produced is slightly less than the combining hydrogen atoms. This difference in the mass is coverted into energy according to einsteins equation E= mc2 (c is squared).\n  This energy is in the formed of gamma rays which reaches the earth. However what we look at is only the surface of the sun called the "photosphere" which is very much cooled than the core (just 6000 degrees).\n\nThe sun wont always be bright. Eventually as the hydrongen gets used up, the reaction will slow down and the sun will become a red giant and on further reduction will become a white dwarf and at the end it will be a black dwarf.
222779
The Sun sudden bursts of energy contains Gamma rays and X-rays, plus energized particles (protons and electrons). This forms the Solar wind. Flare activity picks up as sunspots increase.\n\nhttp://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/sun-ez.html
188339
Yes. Starting from hydrogen, every element is produced inside stars by nuclear fusion. It's a cascade process: light elements join to form heavier elements, all the way down from hydrogen.
227515
For lower mass stars like the sun they are powered by a fusion sequence known as the proton-proton chain.\n\nThe main chain of it (there are actually three variations!) goes along the lines of:\n\nStep #1  Two hydrogen nuclei (protons) undergo fusion and beta decay to produce a positron, a neutrino, and a mass-2 isotope of hydrogen (deuterium).\n\nStep #2 The deuterium reacts with another hydrogen nuclei (a proton) to produce Helium-3 and a gamma-ray.\n\nStep #3 Two helium-3 isotopes produced in separate implementations of steps (1) and (2) fuse to form a Helium-4 nucleus plus two protons.\n\nThe net result of this is that 4H -> He + energy.  The gamma rays and the resulting matter-antimatter anihilation of the positron all produce energy to drive the sun's luminosity.\n\nFor simlicity's sake I've excluded the neutrinos, as they only matter to the energy budget when you look at the reaction in extra fine detail.
1171713
Stars gain their energy through gravitational collapse. \n\nWhen the collapse raises core temperatures and pressures sufficiently, nuclear reactions begin. These reactions produce a lot of energy and a lot of photons. The photon pressure is sufficient to stop further collapse of the star.\n\nWhen the fusion materials are exhausted, collapse resumes. The core temperature and pressure then rise. When they are hot enough, further fusion of larger atoms occurs.\n\nThis continues up the periodic table until fusion is no longer possible. \n\nThe star then coninues to collapse to a very hot, degenerate ball. In some cases the temperature on the surface then gets high enough to cause a catastropic runaway fusion reaction of the helium on the surface, because the rate of fusion of helium is temperature dependent. \n\nThe start the explodes as a supernova. This throws off some matter (though not actually that much). The very high energy of the explosion is enough to produce heavier elements through nucleosynthesis.\n\nWhat is left is a tiny but very very hot star called a white dwarf. Because it is so tiny, it does not radiate much energy (it has a small surface area) so it is quite dim.
167961
To put it simply,\nHydrogen fusion works by fusing two Hydrogen atoms into a Helium atom.  This process gives off a lot of energy, which is the source of the sun power.\nIt takes incredible heat and pressure for this nuclear reaction to occur, this is definatly not something you do in your back yard.\n\nFor more detailed info,\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion\n\nIt is quite easy to seperate Hydrogen gas from water in a process called "electrolysis".  By passing an electric current through water with a dissolved electrolyte, it is possible to split water into Hydrogen and Oxygen gas.  There are actually numerous other ways of producing Hydrogen gas, but non as well known as electrolysis.
555978
Nuclear Fusion is when nuclei of smaller atoms combine to make a bigger nucleus and release energy. For example, 4 hydrogen atoms can combine to make one helium atom. A hydrogen atom weighs slightly than 1/4 of a helium atom though. In other words the helium that is produced weighs less than the hydrogen that we started with. That lost mass has been converted into energy according to Einstein's famous equation, E=MC^2.
923005
pretty much all elements are created in stars, the actual process is very confusing thankfully wikipedia is a better expaliner than i ----> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion\nO2 is important because it helps us create lots of energy from glucose
718540
The fusion primarily happens in the core, where temperature and pressure are the highest. \n\nHowever as a star ages, this can change if it is massive enough. Late in it's life it may be fusing helium in the core and hydrogen in a layer above the core. \n\nIf the star is massive enough, this can continue through several levels in the late life of the star. It then becomes like an onion with different layers --- hydrogen fusion being the highest layer and working the way down to where iron is produced at the core.\n\nHowever iron is the dead end for fusion. Fusing iron takes energy rather than produces it. When enough iron is produced at the core, it becomes too massive to support itself. An implosion results, leading to a supernova.\n\nThe outer layers blow off. The inner core will collapse to form a neutron star --- or if it is massive enough --- a black hole.\n\nIf you are interested in space, consider\nhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-obse...\n\nClear Skies\n\nChuck Taylor
388047
The Sun does not "burn", like we think of logs in a fire or paper burning. The Sun glows because it is a very big ball of gas, and a process called nuclear fusion is taking place in its core. Nuclear fusion occurs when one proton smashes into another proton so hard that they stick together...and release some energy as well. This energy then heats up the other materials (other protons and electrons and such) nearby. This heating eventually grows out from the center (or core) of the star to the outside, finally leaving the surface and radiating out into space to be the heat and light we know stars emit. People, including scientists, sometimes say that the Sun "burns hydrogen" to make it glow. But that is just a figure of speech. Hydrogen really doesn't burn, it fuses, into helium. So no oxygen is required!
337972
Mostly Hydrogen.\n\nAt the center of the Sun, where its density reaches up to 150,000 kg/m3 (150 times the density of water on Earth), thermonuclear reactions (nuclear fusion) convert hydrogen into helium, releasing the energy that keeps the Sun in a state of equilibrium. About 8.9 ×1037 protons (hydrogen nuclei) are converted into helium nuclei every second, releasing energy at the matter-energy conversion rate of 4.26 million tonnes per second, 383 yottawatts (383 ×1024 W) or 9.15 ×1010 megatons of TNT per second. The fusion rate in the core is in a self-correcting equilibrium: a slightly higher rate of fusion would cause the core to heat up more and expand slightly against the weight of the outer layers, reducing the fusion rate and correcting the perturbation; and a slightly lower rate would cause the core to shrink slightly, increasing the fusion rate and again reverting it to its present level.\n\nHydrogen 92.1%\nHelium 7.8%\nOxygen 0.061%\nCarbon 0.030%\nNitrogen 0.0084% \nNeon o.0076%\nIron 0.0037%\nSilicon 0.0031%\nMagnesium 0.0024%\nSulfur 0.0015%
956140
If the sun produced its energy by burning(like a wood fire, chemically changing atoms or molecules to other types of molecules by transferring or shifting pair bonds of small outer atom particles called electrons), the sun would indeed "burn up". In exothermic(producing heat) chemical reactions only these very light electrons give up energy. However, the sun produces its energy by the much more powerful & efficient nuclear fusion(nuclear bombs) process(hydrogen atoms are slammed together to form helium). In the sun 700 million TONS of hydrogen produces 695 million TONS of helium PER SECOND. The excess 5 million TONS PER SECOND of hydrogen-helium material is converted to pure radiant energy by Einstein's famous equation:\nE=MCsquared =M times C times C; \nwhere E= energy,\nM=mass,\nC =the speed of light=984million feet per second.\n\nAs you can see, energy is very very much when 5 million TONS OF MASS is multiplied by the speed of light(almost 1 billion feet per second), not just once, but TWICE. That is why a nuclear fusion bomb is millions of times more powerful than a chemical bomb. But the sun's energy per second isn't just one nuclear bomb...it is the very same energy as 10 BILLION NUCLEAR BOMBS PER SECOND. You may get an inkling of an idea how much power this is, if you imagine 1 square mile of terrain on the earth. In that square mile imagine 50 nuclear bombs blowing up...then one second later, 50 more nuclear bombs...then one second later, 50 more nuclear bombs...& on & on & on & on. However, that is just in one square mile on the earth. Now image that EVERY SQUARE MILE ALL OVER THE EARTH, FROM THE EQUATOR TO THE NORTH & SOUTH POLES ALSO HAVE 50 NUCLEAR BOMBS PER SECOND BLOWING UP. \n\nThat is the power of the sun.\n\nHowever, you say....fusing 700 million tons hydrogen per second must still burn the sun up in short order.\n\nBut the sun is huge...108 times the diameter & 300, 000 times the mass of the earth...for a grand total of 2200 million million million million tons of mostly hydrogen fuel. At its present rate, it would take 3.1 million million million seconds or 100 billion years to fuse its hydrogen. Towards the end of the sun's life, the sun will fuse quicker. But still the sun will fuse for 5 billion more years.