Arvin Ash

Why does the SUN SHINE? The Quantum Explanation for How the Sun Works (2021x11)

Udgivelsesdato: Apr 17, 2021

Get your SPECIAL OFFER for MagellanTV here: https://try.magellantv.com/arvinash - It's an exclusive offer for our viewers! Start your free trial today. MagellanTV is a new kind of streaming service run by filmmakers with 3,000+ documentaries! Check out our personal recommendation and MagellanTV’s exclusive playlists: https://www.magellantv.com/genres/science-and-tech Why does the sun shine? Why doesn't it burn out? How long will its fuel last? To a scientist living in the 18th century, he might have compared it to a log in a fireplace. When wood burns it releases about 1 ten-millionth of a trillionth of a watt per atom. 0:00 Sun's energy 5:00 How fusion happens 7:19 Quantum tunneling 8:25 Fusion chart 9:51 Where energy comes from 12:39 Why Helium is more stable 15:14 Future of sun The mass of the sun was well understood, and translates to about 10^57 atoms. This leads to a lifetime of the sun of about 20,000 years. But we know the sun is at least 4.5 billion years old. So where does the sun's energy come from? from: E=MC^2, which tells us that energy and mass are equivalent. If the sun could convert all its mass 2 x 10^30 kg to energy, it would burn for 15 trillion years! But the sun doesn’t convert all its energy to mass. It converts only about 0.7 percent of its mass to energy in a process called fusion. This is when 4 hydrogen atoms fuse to form one helium atom. And using this process, the sun will last approximately, 10 billion years. It is already middle aged. So how does fusion work? You would think that since the protons that make up the nuclei of the 4 hydrogen atoms are positively charged, they would repel each other. This is true, due to the coulomb force. This is what keeps atoms from spontaneously fusing. The protons have to overcome an energy barrier. Once they get over this barrier, and get very close to each other, the strong nuclear force takes over and glues them together. The strong nuclear force is about 100 times stron