How Much Energy Does the Sun Produce?

Sun's Energy


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The Sun Is a Huge Ball of Energy

The Sun is about 865,000 miles in diameter. That's as wide as 109 Earths placed side by side! About 1 million Earths would fit inside the Sun.

It's hard to imagine the enormous amount of energy the Sun produces. Because its core is under a lot of pressure, hydrogen atoms are constantly colliding with each other at great speeds, fusing together to form helium, and releasing energy. Lots of these collisions occur, creating a ball of energy.

In just one second, the Sun produces about 118 times as much energy as the United States used in the year 2003! Only about one-billionth of the total energy that the Sun produces reaches Earth, but it is enough to enable us to live here.

See more facts about your Sun!


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