5a+Solar+--+Intro

Solar Energy Introduction-Formation = =

==Solar energy is energy coming from the sun. The word solar comes from the origins Latin and Spanish. In Latin, the word solaris is sun. In Spanish, the word sol is sun. ==

==The sun makes its energy by nuclear fusion that occurs when there is too much hydrogen in the sun's core. Nuclear fusion is done at temperatures of more than ninety million degrees Fahrenheit. Each second, about 596 million tons of hydrogen change into about 592 million tons of helium. The other 4 million tons of matter are changed into energy. More than 99% of this energy goes to the surface of the sun as sunlight. ==

==The energy coming to the Earth travels at speeds of 186,000 miles per second and takes a little over 8 minutes to travel about 93 million miles to Earth. ==

==The sun is 4.6 billion years old, and has enough energy left to be around for about 5 billion more years. Solar energy is a renewable energy source because there will always be a sun as long as there is life on the planet Earth. ==

__Nuclear Fusion in Steps __

 * =1Hydrogen + 1Hydrogen > 2Hydrogen + antielectron + neutron =
 * =electron + antielectron > photon + photon =
 * =2Hydrogen + 1Hydrogen > 3Helium + photon =
 * =3Helium +3Helium > 4Helium + 1Hydrogen + 1Hydrogen =

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