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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The sun is a big source of energy, but it’s not the only way we can make energy on Earth. There are loads of other ways, like wind, water and nuclear power, that help us meet our energy needs. For example, wind turbines make electricity by using wind energy, and hydroelectric plants use water power. Countries like Denmark and Norway have been really good at using wind and water power for their energy, with Denmark getting over 40% of its electricity from wind and Norway getting almost all of its power from water.
When we use these energy sources, the atoms in different elements or mixtures start moving faster. This faster movement is what lets us use these other energy sources for our everyday lives, helping us rely less on fossil fuels and cut down on our carbon footprint. A lot of countries are now focusing on using renewable energy sources to fight climate change and make sure we have a sustainable future.
Nuclear power plants also make energy through controlled nuclear reactions, which can help us have a more sustainable energy future too. For example, France gets a lot of its electricity from nuclear power, with about 70% of its energy coming from this method. This shows that nuclear power can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and give us a reliable source of energy. As technology and safety measures get better, nuclear power can play a big part in meeting our global energy needs while being kinder to the environment.
Edit: a lot of people have mentioned that climate change is more or less negligible, and they are correct, it’s actually not as huge of an issue as the media makes it seem like
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.
You could put a generator in the ocean that uses the ocean currents to create power. Use that power to boil a cup of water which is hotter than the source.
You’re just concentrating immense power to heat a tiny tiny piece.
You are confusing Temperature and Heat. While the two are related, temperature is really just a measure of what we think of as hot and cold and heat is the amount of energy contained by an object.
You can have a high temperature object with very little heat; think a match for an example. It’s definitely hot, but it certainly won’t make you feel warmer in a cold room. Plus you can snuff out the flame with your fingers and barely feel it.
You can also have an object at a relatively low temperature that contains a lot of heat. Take a hot tub for instance and how you can overheat your body if you stay in too long despite it being maybe 10F above your own body temperature.
So no, we can absolutely not create anywhere remotely close to the heat than the sun is giving off but we can absolutely reach temperatures higher than the sun on a small scale.
Your space heater isn’t very hot, but it heats the room well. An arc welder is much hotter, but it’s much smaller so it’s not going to heat your room well.
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