mechanism that keeps the Sun shining as brightly as it does...?

Question

Someone suggests to you that the mechanism that keeps the Sun shining as brightly as it does is the burning of coal. You answer this theory in several steps: which of the following is ONE of those steps?

A.new protostars shine by gravitational collapse (the head of clumping)
B.most of the Sun is made of antimatter (which explodes when it touches matter)
C.the C-N-O cycle can also produce helium
D.the dating of radioactive rocks show that the Earth and the Sun are billions of years old
E.we have found many more neutrinos than we expected in our underground experiments

Answer 1

nuclear fusion is what powers the sun.

Answer 2

The answer is D. the dating of radioactive rocks show that Earth and the Sun are billions of years old. Even if the sun were totally made of coal, there would be only enough mass in the sun to burn for a few million years not billions of years.

Answer 3

"C" is the best answer

The Sun is producing about 98-99% of its energy from the PP chain and only about 1% from the CNO cycle. However, if the Sun were but 10-20% more massive, its energy production would be dominated by the CNO cycle.

Answer 4

C-N-O cycle can also produce helium..Because the sun's light is the result of the diffusion of gases into helium on the surface of the sun..thats what i heard..not sure how true though
Good luck

Answer 5

the sun shines because of the hydrogen and helium in its core

Answer 6

Fire.