Why doesn't the sun explode or disintegrate if its been burning for millions of years?

Answer 1

There are two competing forces in a star. Gravity tries to compress everything into the densest possible mass, while the fusion reaction in the core is blowing material outward. The star naturally finds a point where these forces are in equilibrium. If the fusion reaction increases, the star swells up, reducing its pressure and temperature and thus slowing down the reaction. A star like the Sun can keep up this balancing act for ten billion years.

When the fusion reaction finally goes out, due to all the available fuel being consumed, gravity wins out and the Sun will collapse into a white dwarf. Larger stars turn into neutron stars or black holes.

Answer 2

To complete the excellente explanation above, the sun is composed of hydrogen and helium. The fusion reaction is transforming the hydrogen in helium and it has enough reserve to go on for the 5 next billion years.

It doesn't explode because its mass is so hughe, that it attracts almost all the matter that is sent into space. Some explosions on its surface are many tens times, even more, the size of earth and that matter fall back onto its surface.

When it will become a red giant, its size will be so hughe that it may almost absorb the earth. But its mass, will remain almost the same. It's like water becoming gas, the mass remains the same, only the volume change.

Answer 3

Patience, patience. Yeah, the Sun's been burning for the past, lets see... 4.5 billion years. But it still has enough hydrogen fuel in its core to sustain the massive-heat- producing nuclear fusion reaction for the next 10 billion years. When the hydrogen fuel in the core starts to run out, the Sun's core will expand and turn into a red giant. After that, when the hydrogen fuel really, really runs out, it will shrink into a superdense, steadily cooling star called a white dwarf. And, occasionally, white dwarfs could collapse under their own weight into a supernova.

Oh, and by the time all of this is over, the life on earth would be done for. This is because by that time the earth's water and atmosphere would've evaporated into the emptyness of space. Earth would look like the Mars of today.

Answer 4

None of us will live long enough to see the sun "die".

The Sun does not have enough mass to explode as a supernova. Instead, in 4–5 billion years, it will enter a red giant phase, its outer layers expanding as the hydrogen fuel in the core is consumed and the core contracts and heats up. Helium fusion will begin when the core temperature reaches about 3×108 K. While it is likely that the expansion of the outer layers of the Sun will reach the current position of Earth's orbit, recent research suggests that mass lost from the Sun earlier in its red giant phase will cause the Earth's orbit to move further out, preventing it from being engulfed. However, Earth's water and most of the atmosphere will be boiled away. ...from Wikipedia.

Answer 5

The sun actually does explode, but it takes "billions of years", at least for our sun. Other stars burn more quickly (based on the size and type of fuel).

A star goes through burning stages, first Hydrogen fuseing into Helium, and then Helium to Carbon and then Carbon to Silicon and lastly Iron. The last three stages happen in progressively larger stars than our sun. But once that happens they go supernova and blow apart. That moment of explosion causes the creation of even heavier elements, which then come together to create planets and stars all over again.

If they are really big the star can also create a black hole, but also create other strange stars, like Neutron stars, or Magnetars.

Answer 6

it extremely is 5 BILLION, no longer million years, and it won't burn out, precisely, suitable then, the two. what's going to take place whilst each and each of the Hydrogen is exausted is that the sunlight will swap to fusing Helium into Lithium - this alteration will reason the sunlight to bypass from it extremely is contemporary length to that of a purple super - the chromosphere will attain nicely previous the orbit of Venus, according to threat previous Earth. whilst that happens, the oceans in the international will boil away, so will the ambience, and Titan will develop into liveable. If we are success, mankind has got here upon a trend off this third rock from the sunlight by utilising then...

Answer 7

I will not try to explain, because you seem to know very little about this. A web search would do you better. The sun is billions of years old.

Answer 8

It's my understanding that the sun is burning out. But we won't see this in our life time. Example of stars going super nova. They say the sun will do the same one day.

I've found a web site that explored this question.

http://www.imagiverse.org/questions/archives/astronomy2.htm#Top

In fact if you do a search on "sun burning out", you'll find that alot of ppl have explored this question.

Answer 9

the parts of the sun explode every decond... we r millions of miles away so we cannot feel it... but the whole sun cannnot explode at 1c.. there is a reaction goin on its core to outer part which produces energy in form of heat,lite... etc...
but the sun cannot explode...

Answer 10

There is no need to write out an answer other than to state that "injanier"s answer is the most complete and seems to address the question well.