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Homework Statement
The sun radiates energy at the rate of approximately 4 x 10^26 W. Assume that this energy is produced by a reaction whose net result is the fusion of 4 H nuclei to form 1 He nucleus, with the release of 25 MeV for each He nucleus formed.
Calculate the sun's loss of mass per day
Homework Equations
E = mc^2
The Attempt at a Solution
I think all the information about the Helium reaction is a red herring, but I'm
not sure. It's throwing me off. The problem says that the sun radiate energy
at the rate of 4x10^26 W, but it doesn't say in what time frame.
What I did at first, was assumed that that rate is per second and I did as follows;
1 day = 24 hours = 24*60 minutes = 24*60*60 seconds = 86400 s
Energy output in a day = 4x10^26 W/s * 86400s = 3.456 * 10^31 J
then I used E = mc^2 -> m = E/c^2 = 3.456 * 10^31 J/(2.0 * 10^8 m/s)^2
= 3.84 * 10^14 kg to be the amount of mass the sun loses every day.
Is this right, or do I have to use the given information about the Helium reaction?