From a spectrometer analysis of the light that it emits. The principal lines in the spectrum are hydrogen and helium. It fuses hydrogen to make helium in its core.
2007-06-19 07:45:32
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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The Sun is a very hot gaseous body composed of almost 75% hydrogen and 25% helium. Less than 1% is made up of oxygen and several other elements. The diameter of the Sun is 1,400,000 km (840,000 miles) which is more than 100 times the diameter of the Earth. Its mass is more than 300,000 times that of the Earth with a surface temperature of about 5500° C.
The source of energy in the Sun is the fusion of hydrogen nuclei (protons) into helium nuclei. In this process a small amount of mass is lost and transformed into energy. This nuclear reaction can only take place in the very hot (15,000,000°C) and dense centre of the Sun. The Sun loses half a million tons every second in this destruction of mass to give energy but will maintain its present output of energy for about 5000 million years.
For this long period of time the Sun is called a main-sequence star but eventually the hydrogen in the centre will all have been converted into helium. The balance between the force of gravity pulling all the Sun's mass towards its centre, and the force due to the energy in the Sun which pushes matter outwards, will then be upset. The centre will contract and become even hotter while the outer part will expand and become cooler. The Sun will then be brighter, cooler and bigger - a red giant star. Ultimately all sources of energy production will come to an end and the Sun will collapse to become a very small hot object called a white dwarf
2007-06-19 07:46:34
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answer #2
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answered by Honey 5
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It's atmosphere is Mainly hydrogen with Some Helium. ( It might get you extra marks to include mention that Helium was first "found" in the Sun)
Some other stuff
Don't know about the inside as its difficult to probe. Probably more Hydrogen/Helium.
Analysis of the Sun's emission spectrum is one way of figuring it out. Others things, as knowing how big the sun is, and how heavy it is. Also how fast pressure waves (on/in the sun) travel is dependant of what it is made of (bit like how earthquakes used to "investigate" inside the Earth)
2007-06-19 07:52:51
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answer #3
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answered by Steve C 6
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hydrogem gas predominantly I think. I think its atoms are unstable and reacts with other gases thus giving off heat and radiation. something along those lines. don't quote me though!
Now listen up rather than waste time on here for the right answer, which you will get, why not search it yourself on the internet. you'll get more specific info. Gio explore this is not a vague topic to research it's based on physics facts and so is somthing thats available and doesn't need lodas of man hours reasearching!
oh ye and to recall what the other guy said- 'you're still in school?! its summer!'
From this I can only think your in some kind of tuition or summer school or in a country where schools are in term during this period. whatever it is hope you do some searchengine work and get a more precise ans.
2007-06-19 07:48:29
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answer #4
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answered by vik 4
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The sun is a huge, glowing sphere of hot gas. Most of this gas is hydrogen (about 70%) and helium (about 28%). Carbon, nitrogen and oxygen make up 1.5% and the other 0.5% is made up of small amounts of many other elements such as neon, iron, silicon, magnesium and sulfur. The sun shines because it is burning hydrogen into helium in its extremely hot core. This means that as time goes on, the sun has less hydrogen and more helium.
2007-06-19 22:54:11
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answer #5
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answered by Majdi B 3
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Each chemical element has a specific spectroscopic signature, a series of lines in its spectrum of light. We can recognize these lines because they are the same anywhere in the universe, though they may be shifted in frequency due to the Doppler effect. When we look at the Sun through a spectroscope, we see strong signatures for hydrogen and helium, so we know those are the main components of the Sun.
2007-06-19 07:50:29
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answer #6
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answered by lithiumdeuteride 7
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Mainly Hydrogen, this "combusts" under nuclear fusion to create Helium. So, a combination of Hydrogen and Helium
2007-06-19 08:06:53
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answer #7
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answered by Efnissien 6
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An instrument called a spectrograph can identify an element by analyzing the spectrum of the light it emits.
2007-06-23 04:33:16
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answer #8
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answered by johnandeileen2000 7
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I believe we don't truly know what it is made of, but we can guess probably very accurately. We have heat/radiation sensours, and giving us the tempeature at which the sun is burning, we can accurately assume it is buring helium and hydrogen.
-It's just a guess.
2007-06-19 07:53:56
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answer #9
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answered by Rev. Chelsey Colem5an 2
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Start here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun
2007-06-19 07:45:05
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answer #10
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answered by Anonymous
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