what is the sun made of ?

Answer 1

The Sun is composed of hydrogen (about 74% of its mass, or 92% of its volume), helium (about 25% of mass, 7% of volume), and trace quantities of other elements. The Sun has a spectral class of G2V. G2 implies that it has a surface temperature of approximately 5,500 K (or approximately 9,600 degrees Fahrenheit / 5,315 Celsius), giving it a white color which, because of atmospheric scattering, appears yellow as seen from the surface of the Earth. This is a subtractive effect, as the preferential scattering of blue photons (causing the sky color) removes enough blue light to leave a residual reddishness that is perceived as yellow. (If low enough in the sky, the Sun appears orange or red, due to this scattering.)
Hydrogen 73.46 %
Helium 24.85 %
Oxygen 0.77 %
Carbon 0.29 %
Iron 0.16 %
Sulphur 0.12 %
Neon 0.12 %
Nitrogen 0.09 %
Silicon 0.07 %
Magnesium 0.05 %

Answer 2

The sun is, as most everyone has said mostly hydrogen with some helium but as much as 2% of it's makeup are every element found on our planet plus a whole lot of isotopes not usually found. The spots on the periodic chart that we know must exist somewhere in the universe are there, and I would venture to guess more than a few other suprises.

Answer 3

The following comes from Amara Graps at Stanford:

The sun's elemental components are:

"Principal Chemical Constituents by number of atoms:

Hydrogen 92.1 %
Helium 7.8 %
Oxygen 0.061 %
Carbon 0.030 %
Nitrogen 0.0084 %
Neon 0.0076 %
Iron 0.0037 %
Silicon 0.0031 %
Magnesium 0.0024 %
Sulfur 0.0015 %

All Others 0.0015 %


The elements other than Hydrogen and Helium are left over from the molecular cloud from which our Sun was born. Most of these heavier elements were produced by an earlier generation of stars that exploded even before the Sun formed.

Right now the Sun is burning Hydrogen and converting it to Helium. When the core of the Sun doesn't have enough hydrogen left (in about 4.5 billion years), it will start burning the Helium that is now in the center. Then the Sun will no longer be a middle aged star, it will become a red giant."

Answer 4

Hydrogen with a helium core, and some exotic compounds in trace amounts

Answer 5

Hydrogen. Helium core. Some trace metals, but mostly it's a big hydrogen ball undergoing nuclear fusion, hydrogen to helium through the proton-proton chain, emitting a huge amount of energy in the process.

Answer 6

Mainly Hydrogen and Helium, but there are other trace elements.

By mass

74% Hydrogen
25% Helium
1% Other

Answer 7

Hot hydrogen plasma, and some helium. Plus a trace of other stuff. In numbers, it is 70% hydrogen, 28% helium, 1.5% carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, and 0.5% all other elements.

Answer 8

A highly compressed form of unstable hydrogen isotopes (Deuterium and Tritium) which undergo a nuclear fusion reaction to produce Helium gas, releasing a lot of energy in the process in the form of heat, gamma radiation and light.

Answer 9

Mostly very hot hydrogen, with a little trace of helium.

Answer 10

The sun is a mass of incandescent gas.