In the Sun, it takes several hundred thousand years for a photon released in the
ID: 1461930 • Letter: I
Question
In the Sun, it takes several hundred thousand years for a photon released in the core to reach the surface. Use the speed of light and the radius of the sun to estimate the escape time for a photon from the center of the sun if there were no interaction.In the Sun, it takes several hundred thousand years for a photon released in the core to reach the surface. Use the speed of light and the radius of the sun to estimate the escape time for a photon from the center of the sun if there were no interaction.
Explanation / Answer
The radius of the sun = 1.392*106 km = 1.392*109 m
The speed of light, c = 3*108 m/s
So the time for a photon to escape from the center, if it were unhindered, would be:
t = R/c = 1.392*109 / 3*108= (13.92/3) = 4.64 s