Question

What is the nuclear fuel in the sun? Describe the process by which energy is released in the sun. Write the equation of the nuclear reaction involved.

Answer 1

Hydrogen atoms can be considered a nuclear fuel in the sun because the sun derives its energy from the fusion of hydrogen nuclei.
The main nuclear fusion reaction taking place in the sun, a reaction that releases a tremendous amount of energy, is the fusion of four hydrogen atom nuclei to form the bigger nucleus of the helium atom. The total energy produced by the fusion of hydrogen into helium is tremendous. All this energy is released in the form of heat and light.

$4{}_1{}^1\mathrm{H}\underset{\mathrm{inside}\mathrm{the}\mathrm{sun}}{\overset{\mathrm{nuclear}\mathrm{fusion}}{\to }}{}_2{}^4\mathrm{He}+2{}_1{}^0\mathrm{e}+\mathrm{Tremendous}\mathrm{amount}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{energy}$