Video Transcript
Fill in the blank. The process by which energy is
released from the core of the Sun is known as blank.
The Sun is an enormous sphere of
hot plasma. It is primarily composed of
hydrogen and helium atoms. The surface temperature of the Sun
is about five and a half thousand degrees Celsius, while the core temperature is
about 15 million degrees Celsius. The pressure is relatively low at
the outer edges of the Sun and incredibly high near or within the core.
The core temperature and pressure
are so high in stars like the Sun that atoms undergo nuclear reactions that do not
occur naturally in any other part of the solar system. The hydrogen nuclei in the core of
the Sun move so fast and at such a high pressure that they collide and form heavier
helium nuclei. Scientists call this process
nuclear fusion because light nuclei fuse to make a heavier nucleus. We can define nuclear fusion as the
formation of one heavier atomic nucleus from the collision and combination of
lighter atomic nuclei.
Nuclear fusion happens continuously
in the Sun, and the reaction releases large amounts of energy. These nuclear fusion reactions
effectively power the Sun and ultimately make it shine and emit electromagnetic
radiation that moves throughout the solar system. So nuclear fusion is the process
that occurs within the core of the Sun that releases energy. Therefore, we should fill in the
blank with “nuclear fusion.”
