What is the total intensity of the sun?

1 Answer
1s2s2p
May 9, 2018

#3.95*10^26W#

Explanation:

The Stefan-Boltzmann law is #L=AsigmaT^4#, where:

  • #A# = surface area (#m^2#)
  • #sigma# = Stefan-Boltzmann (#~5.67*10^-8Wm^-2K^-4#)
  • #T# = surface temperature (#K#)

Given the sun is a sphere (though not a perfect one), we can use:
#L=4pir^2sigmaT^4#

#T# is known to be #5800K# and #r# is known to be #7.00*10^8m#

#L=4pi(7.00*10^8)^2(5.67*10^-8)(5800)^4=3.95*10^26W#

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