My brother's 5th grade teacher told him that the earth is heavier than the sun, is this true?

Answer 1

I read some of the previous answers, and there is some confusion. Mass, Weight, and Density are all different things, and this problem gets increasingly complex as you get closer and closer to the center of the Sun.

If one was to take a sample from the Sun that was the size of a basketball, they would find that it is predominantly composed of Hydrogen (~75%) and Helium(~25%). Hydrogen is the "lightest" element on the periodic table, followed secondly by Helium.

For arguments sake, when considering the Earth, lets just assume that the "heavier" materials tend to be at the center of the earth, and they get progressivly lighter from the center out. Until the atmosphere disappears into open space.

If one was to take a sample the size of a basketball from the surface of the Earth, they would most likely get a sample of predominantly water. For the same given sample size (Our basketball) water is much more dense than Hydrogen or Helium.

So per unit area (meaning the same sample size) the Earth is "heavier" than the Sun.

When considering the total mass of the Sun versus the Earth; the Sun is orders of magnitude larger than the earth. So you end up comparing a tiny relatively dense planet to an extremely extremely large Sun composed of a lot of light stuff.

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

Packinrats answer makes a lot of sense but perhaps your brother heard it wrong/didn't understand. The teacher may have said the earth was more dense, not heavier. The teacher could have said that an earth sized part of the sun would weigh less than the earth.

Answer 3

First of all the, teacher's statement was the earth is heaver than the sun. If that is what he meant he is dead wrong. The sun is less dense than the earth, but that is not what the teacher said. Heavy=mass and Dense=mass/Volume.

packrat,
I personally do not like your attitude. People are trying to answer this question for the asker. Your attacks are just not in the best interest of this forum.

Answer 4

The mass of the Sun is 2x10^30 (that's a 2 with 30 zeros after it) kilograms. The mass of Earth is 6x10^24 (6 with 24 zeros) kilograms. The Sun is obviously much more massive than Earth.

Earth, however, is almost 4 times denser than the Sun. Perhaps that's what your son's teacher meant? Something like, a tablespoon of Earth would weigh more than a tablespoon of Sun.

Answer 5

The Earth have more density than the Sun, but The Sun is a lot bigger and heavier than Earth. You would understand better with this video:
www.youtube.com and search "how small is earth"

Answer 6

not true at all. the sun its way heavier.

and to the first dude. maybe a piece of the sun the the size of the earth weighs less, but the sun is over 1000 times larger than the earth.

Answer 7

No, this is false.

The sun weighs approx. 1.99 X 10^30 kg.
The earth weighs approx. 5.97 X 10^24 kg.

If the earth were the same size as the sun, then the earth would weigh more because it contains mostly solid matter.

However, the sun is collossal compared to the earth! And even though the sun is just gas, its spherical volume allows it to contain enough gas to outweigh the smaller earth (even though it is solid).

Answer 8

Your brothers teacher may have meant denser. At least neither is as dense as packinrat. C'mon packin, the answers I've seen you give, and you've got the nerve to insult people. Thank god I've never been your student. I'd probably still subscribe to Ptolemy's view of the universe.

Packinrat, you're alright. You have tickled my sides. I guess it wouldn't be so bad to be in one of your classes after all.

Answer 9

No. Maybe he meant it was denser than the sun? That's also not true for most of the sun, but the Earth is denser than some parts of the sun.

Answer 10

No.
The Earth is DENSER than the Sun,
(more weight per equal volume on average),
but hot heavier, (total weight to total weight).