Question

Malika is writing an essay about the Sun. Below is the first paragraph in the essay. The Sun is an average-size star that is located at the center of the solar system. This hot, glowing ball of gas has a diameter of 1,393,000 km. This means 109 Earths would fit side by side across the diameter of the Sun. At the surface, the Sun’s temperature is about 550 degrees Celsius. Earth is located just under 150 million kilometers from the Sun. Malika quickly realizes this paragraph contains an error. Which statement identifies the error? The Sun is a large star, not an average-size star. The Sun is not a glowing ball of gas—it is solid. The Sun’s surface temperature is about 5500 degrees Celsius. Earth is located over 300 million kilometers from the Sun.

Answer 1

The answer would be:

The Sun's surface temperature is about 5,500 degrees Celsius.

The surface of the Sun is about 5,778 Kelvin. If you want to be exact the sun is 5,505 degrees Celsius and that's just the surface. The corona gets even hotter reaching about 10 million degrees Celsius. The other information about the Sun is correct.

Answer 2

Answer: Option (c) is the correct answer.

Explanation:

Sun is a large star and as it is given that it's diameter is 1,393,000 km. Since there are nuclear reactions that take place inside the Sun, therefore, there is emission of lot of radiations.

As a result, lot of heat energy is there. So, the statement at the surface Sun’s temperature is about 550 degrees Celsius will be an error.

Thus, we can conclude that this error is identified by the statement the Sun’s surface temperature is about 5500 degrees Celsius.