Question

Estimate how much mass the sun loses through fusion reactions during its 10-billion-year life. you can simplify the problem by assuming the sun’s energy output remains constant.

Answer 1

`1.34 X 10^(24)` kg

Step-by-step explanation:

The sun's energy output per second is 4.26 million metric tons, this is a constant value.

To solve for the amount of mass the sun loses during its 10 billion year life, multiply the energy output per second by the total time (in seconds) for the 10 billion year period.

CALCULATION

`(4.26 X 10^(6)) X (10 X 10^(9)) X (365 X 24 X 60 X 60)`

Mass loss =
`1.34 X 10^(24)` kg

Answer 2

The rate of mass loss of the sun assuming that the energy output remains constant is 4.26 million metric tons per second.
In 10 billion years, the total mass loss is
10 x 10^9 years (365.4 days / 1year) (86400 second/ 1 day) (4.26 million metric tons/second)
Solve this and you'll get the answer.