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28.6 Exercise 38

Avg difficulty 2.5

The Sun produces energy at a rate of 4.00×10264 . \text{00} \times \text{10}^{\text{26}} W by the fusion of hydrogen. (a) How many kilograms of hydrogen undergo fusion each second? (b) If the Sun is 90.0% hydrogen and half of this can undergo fusion before the Sun changes character, how long could it produce energy at its current rate? (c) How many kilograms of mass is the Sun losing per second? (d) What fraction of its mass will it have lost in the time found in part (b)?

OpenStax College Physics 2e, 28.6 Relativistic Energy, exercise 38

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Adapted from College Physics © 2022 Rice University. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Sources: College Physics 2e, College Physics for AP® Courses 2e. Imported at revision f98d7a7.