The energy from the sun is important to life on earth. It is also a useful form of energy for addressing the problems caused by climate change and global warming, and more people are now turning to solar power for their homes provided by professionals like this solar panel installers Nailsea based company https://redbridgeandsons.co.uk/solar-pv-panels/solar-panel-installers-nailsea
The power from the sun is certainly a great way of using a more renewable form of energy that is kinder to the planet, but what is it that powers the sun itself?
The process that powers the sun is known as nuclear fusion – it is a huge nuclear reactor basically, that gives off enormous amounts of energy. This is caused by the protons from the hydrogen atoms in the sun colliding with the core of the sun itself, fusing with them and creating a helium atom. The huge amount of energy also means that the sun is incredibly hot – around 4 million degrees Celsius in fact!
The power that the sun generates in heat and light then leaves the sun and is known as electromagnetic radiation, or EMR for short. There are many different types of EMR and the waves of them differ. Many cannot be seen by humans, but we are able to measure them with various instruments.
Thankfully, the atmosphere of Earth absorbs the most harmful of the sun’s rays such as X rays and Gamma rays, however some less harmful ones do make it through the atmosphere and these can then cause sunburn.
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