Question

assume the suns total energy output is 4.0 * 10^26 watts, and 1 watt is 1 joule/second. assume 4.3 * 10^-12 J is released from each p-p chain of reactions. use the energy yield from the proton-proton chain to determine how many proton-proton chain reactions must be happening each second in the solar core

Answer 1

Answer:

$9.3\cdot 10^{37}$

Explanation:

Power is defined as the energy produced (E) per unit of time (t):

$P= \frac{E}{t}$

This means that the energy produced in the Sun each second (1 s), given the power $P=4.0\cdot 10^{26}W$, is

$E=Pt=(4.0\cdot 10^{26}W)(1s )=4.0\cdot 10^{26} J$

Each p-p chain reaction produces an amount of energy of

$E_1 = 4.3\cdot 10^{-12} J$

in order to get the total number of p-p chain reactions per second, we need to divide the total energy produced per second by the energy produced by each reaction:

$n=\frac{E}{E_1}=\frac{4.0\cdot 10^{26} J}{4.3\cdot 10^{-12} J}=9.3\cdot 10^{37}$