• Question: How many regular AA batteries would it take t0 power the sun?

    Asked by izzyf to Saiful, Petra, Jenny, Jawwad, Iain, Bethan on 18 Jan 2017.
    • Photo: Bethan Charles

      Bethan Charles answered on 18 Jan 2017:

      The below is a very rough calculation and makes an awful lot of assumptions, but lets give it a go!

      1) Lets assume we’re looking at normal alkaline AA batteries. They have a maximum energy of about 2.6Wh. Lets convert the units from Wh (watt hours) to J (Joules).

      1Wh = 3600J
      2.6Wh = 9360J

      2) The sun gives out a HUGE amount of energy. In just ONE SECOND the sun gives out 3.8 x 10^26 J (that is 38 followed by 25 0s!!!)

      3) Dividing the amount of Joules given out by the sun by the amount of joules given out by the battery gives the number of batteries needed to power the Sun for just one second:

      (3.8 x 10^26) / 9360 = 4 x 10^22 batteries
      (that means 40,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 batteries)

      4) If you were to line up all those batteries in one straight line they get close to the Andromeda Galaxy. Which is over 2 million lightyears away from us!!!

      In conclusion, the Sun produces a LOT of energy!!

Comments