# How can the sun, burn. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 1, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537 "2013-04-01T15:41:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/21 "2013-04-02T12:07:47Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > We should thank God that he has Jesus bank the Sun’s fire between sundown and sunrise or we’d be in big trouble. So that’s why Jesus hasn’t come back! He works nights and has been too tired during the day to get out of the house! ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/22 "2013-04-02T12:17:23Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > So that’s why Jesus hasn’t come back! He works nights and has been too tired during the day to get out of the house! Night shift can be a damn long shift when cracker ass coyote done stole the sun. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/23 "2013-04-02T12:59:26Z")
Here’s the math, in the original monograph by Lord Kelvin himself: [http://zapatopi.net/kelvin/papers/on\_the\_age\_of\_the\_suns\_heat.html](http://zapatopi.net/kelvin/papers/on_the_age_of_the_suns_heat.html) You can disagree with me, but you can’t argue with Science! ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/24 "2013-04-02T13:05:42Z")
> [@Derc](#): > > Thank you for the confusion analysis, I suspect the answer to life, the universe and everything, is as quoted in Montypythonian nomenclature; … 42. And here we go with the ignorance fighting … **Monty Python** wrote _The Meaning Of Life_ … **Douglas Adams** wrote _The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy_, in which we find that the answer to _the ultimate question, the meaning of life, the universe, and everything_ is 42. Oh, and he did write a little book called _The Meaning of Liff_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/25 "2013-04-02T13:46:06Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > There! I’ve run rings around you logically. Burma!! ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/26 "2013-04-02T14:02:17Z")
> [@XT](#): > > It doesn’t burn. It’s essentially a big ball of gas that is undergoing nuclear fusion…so, it’s not burning the hydrogen, it’s fusing hydrogen into (IIRC) helium, and in the process releasing immense energy in the form of heat and light (and some other stuff). Don’t know if the OP was serious, answering a homework question or just pulling our leg on April 1 but the overall reaction is: 4 [sup]1[/sup]H + 2 e =\> [sup]4[/sup]He + 2 neutrinos + 6 photons with many intermediate steps which can read [here](http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~soper/Sun/fusionsteps.html) via the University of Oregon. Combustion of hydrogen: 2H[sub]2[/sub] + O[sub]2[/sub] =\> 2H[sub]2[/sub]O + heat ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/27 "2013-04-02T14:05:04Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > You can disagree with me, but you can’t argue with Science! Oh yeah? Imma punch Science inna FACE! With lemons! ---
**Author:** ![Jimbabweosu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jimbabweosu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimbabweosu)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/28 "2013-04-02T14:05:36Z")
Dropzone, as I read your responses I recall the scene in Monty Python’s The Holy Grail where, after Arthur has just explained that weighing the accused against a duck will determine her witch status… the local Lord, Sir Bedemir, says to Arthur: “Who are you who are so wise in the ways of science?” lol! ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/29 "2013-04-02T14:15:50Z")
> [@Pooter](#): > > Cause it is hot! lol Oh yeah? Then explain how it burns at _night_, wise guy! ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/30 "2013-04-02T14:32:40Z")
> [@Derc](#): > > Thank you for the confusion analysis, I suspect the answer to life, the universe and everything, is as quoted in Montypythonian nomenclature; … 42. > > many thanks CK Holy crap. I just realized that Jackie Robinson is (well, was) the answer to life, the universe, and everything. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/31 "2013-04-02T14:41:48Z")
[quote=“XT, post:8, topic:654537”] Well, yeah…but that begs the question. WHY is it hot? Because it hangs out at summer beaches and never wears clothes at all! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/32 "2013-04-02T17:19:20Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Holy crap. I just realized that Jackie Robinson is (well, was) the answer to life, the universe, and everything. :eek: In a theater near you [beginning April 12th](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42_%28film%29). ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/33 "2013-04-02T17:25:25Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > The Sun is a yellow dwarf star (spectral class G2V). It is composed of about 75% hydrogen, 23% helium, and the rest small quantities of heavier elements including a small amount of oxygen generated by the CNO fusion cycle (which accounts for less than 1% of the energy output). The primary energy output of the sun is due to proton-proton fusion, which combines free protons (ionized hydrogen) into helium, and then into a series of other products along the p-p chian. > > Stranger Also, oxygen produced by the CNO cycle won’t react with hydrogen because it is [too hot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_splitting#Thermal_decomposition_of_water); heating water to the relatively mild temperature of 3000C (cooler than even the surface of the Sun) causes half the molecules to break apart. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/34 "2013-04-02T18:53:51Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Burma!! Why’d you say “Burma!!”? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/35 "2013-04-02T18:59:40Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Why’d you say “Burma!!”? I panicked. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/36 "2013-04-02T19:14:55Z")
> [@Michael63129](#): > > Also, oxygen produced by the CNO cycle won’t react with hydrogen because it is [too hot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_splitting#Thermal_decomposition_of_water); heating water to the relatively mild temperature of 3000C (cooler than even the surface of the Sun) causes half the molecules to break apart. Not to mention the hydrogen-oxygen reaction is a chemical one – that is involving their electrons – and the sun is a plasma with the electrons and nuclei disassociated. Or maybe that’s just another way of saying the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/37 "2013-04-02T20:42:33Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > The primary energy output of the sun is due to proton-proton fusion, which combines free protons (ionized hydrogen) into helium, and then into a series of other products along the p-p chian. > > Stranger Ha, ha! Stranger said “p-p”! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/38 "2013-04-02T20:48:26Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Here’s the math, in the original monograph by Lord Kelvin himself: > [Lord Kelvin | On the Age of the Sun’s Heat](http://zapatopi.net/kelvin/papers/on_the_age_of_the_suns_heat.html) > > You can disagree with me, but you can’t argue with Science! He gave himself a rather prescient way out: > [@Lord Kelvin](#): > > [the] inhabitants of the earth can not continue to enjoy the light and heat essential to their life for many million years longer _unless sources now unknown to us are prepared in the great storehouse of creation_. (emphasis added) 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/39 "2013-04-02T21:14:58Z")
Assuming I was immune to the heat and radiation, could I walk on the sun? Would the photosphere (surface?) Have a texture? Like glowy oatmeal? How much would I weigh on the sun? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/40 "2013-04-02T21:29:32Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > Assuming I was immune to the heat and radiation, could I walk on the sun? Would the photosphere (surface?) Have a texture? Like glowy oatmeal? How much would I weigh on the sun? Was it Callaghan who did the impression of the first astronaut on the Sun? _{Dances around, hopping from foot to foot}_ OW! OW! OWWW!! The Newfoundland Space Agency was also planning on landing an astronaut on the sun, but they were at least smart enough to plan to land at night. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537.md?page=3)