if there is no air in space how do the sun burn?

Answer 1

It is nuclear fusion, not an oxidation reaction.

Answer 2

The answer to your question is the most well known equation: E=mc^2
Right now, through the process of nuclear fusion, our Sun is converting approximately 400 million tons of hydrogen into helium every second. Now, it takes 4 H atoms to form 1 He atom. The funny thing is that 1 He atom has slightly less mass [matter] than the total mass of 4 H atoms. Where did the other matter go? It was converted into energy. The rate of conversion of matter into energy is c [or the speed of light] squared. This energy is then radiated from the reactions in quanta of electromagnetic radiation. A more common term for quanta is photon. Some of the photons are in the visible spectrum, but the Sun emits quanta of all the frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves to gamma rays. So, the Sun is not burning like a piece of wood in a fire which is a chemical process of oxidation, it is generating energy through a nuclear process.

Answer 3

SIMPLE ANSWER:

The Sun is not in flames!!! The Sun has no fire at all. It is only nuclear explosions. Period.


Complex Answer:

The sun is made out of Hydrogen, Helium, and many other elements, but almost all of it is still Hydrogen. The amount of Hydrogen is so big, that it generates gravity (big mass), so it compresses under it’s own gravity.

The compression is so big, that inside a thermo nuclear reaction starts, this is, the atoms of Hydrogen start fusing with each other, creating Helium, and then those combine again, creating more heavier and complex elements.

The result from that fusion is a nuclear explosion. There are millions and millions of explosion happening at every second in there. Those explosions try to expand the Sun, but the gravity keeps it steady. This si why the Sun remains the same size and it just doesn’t explode away.

The heat we receive from the Sun is generated at those explosion, together with light, and lethal level of radiation.

Even when our common sense makes us think the Sun is on fire, there is actually no fire in there at all.

Those “flames” we see on the videos NASA and other agencies have taken, are actually the hot gases moving in the explosion. Don’t think that is just hot gas, it is actually more like plasma, a very hot and dense state of matter.

Each one of those “flames” we have see can swallow Earth in a matter of seconds. If we were closer, our planet would literally melt, pass from liquid to gas, and then to plasma. We would become a bright spot of plasma and would be swallowed into the Sun.

For most people, it is just impossible to comprehend the levels of heat and radiation that are being generated inside the Sun. And our Sun is relatively small compare to other stars that are much powerful and bright.

Answer 4

We all know that there is no air in space, and therefore no oxygen to burn. In our everyday experience, the only burning most of us are familiar with is fire combustion. But that is not the only type of reaction; the sun is indeed burning, but it is a nuclear reaction, not a chemical one.

The sun burns hydrogen--a lot of it, several hundred million tons per second. But don’t worry; there’s plenty more where that came from; by most estimates, the sun has enough fuel for about another five billion years.

Your welcome.

Answer 5

47th Time I have answered this question.

You are using Earth terms to describe an activity that is unrelated to Earth.

Heat and Light from the Sun are the result of nuclear fusion of Hydrogen Gas into Helium Gas at extreme pressure and absolutely fantastic pressures.

Burning is a term used on Earth to describe the combination of oxygen and other materials in oxidation. Oxidation does produce heat and light, but nothing on the order of magnitude that nuclear fusion produces. Nuclear fusion might be compared to an atomic bomb that continues to go on and on and on blowing up. It is not the same, but a lot of the characteristics are similar. Tremendous quantities of heat, light and radiation are given off by the process. That is our Sun.

Answer 6

The Sun is composed of hydrogen (92%), helium (7%) and trace quantities of other elements(1%). 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 and yellow on earth due to scattering of light by the atmosphere.

This is due to the energy production by the nuclear fusion of the hydrogen and helium present in it. This produces energy which is in the form of heat and light. This makes the sun appear as a ball of fire.
The sun is not burning, its a mass(object) in which nuclear fusion reaction is taking place by which energy is produced which we percieve here on earth.

Similarly, in a light bulb, nothing is burning in there and nor is there oxygen in it. The high amount of energy (due to resistance of current) produced by the tungsten filament is in the form of heat and light which we feel/percieve.
Hope ur clear about it now! :-)

Answer 7

You are confusing the typical form of "burning" or rapid oxidation causing a flame on earth with the fusion process going on in the sun that creates its energy. This energy is transmitted by radiation, which requires no air.

Answer 8

The sun does not burn; it is powered by thermonuclear fusion, in which hydrogen in its core is fused into helium. A hydrogen bomb works on the same principle.

Answer 9

I think the sun doesn't burn! it produces heat but its not burning....?

Answer 10

It's not a combustion reaction as we know it...it's a Nuclear reaction..no oxygen needed.