eli5 How is it that things on earth can be “hotter than the surface of the sun”? If the sun is giving energy to basically everything on earth, wouldn’t any earth-item or organism only be able to mimic a fraction of the sun’s energy/power output?
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Energy output is not based on the temperature alone, you have to consider surface area as well. Compare a a 1 cm by 1 cm square that is at say 6500 K vs a 1 km by 1 km square that’s “only” 6000 K. Sure that tiny square is hotter but you have so much more of the larger square it doesn’t really matter.
Put another way which do you think will sound louder, one person yelling at the top of their lungs vs. 50,000 people who are at 90% of max volume. Unless you are right next to the on person it’s going to be the crowd.
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