Final answer:
The statement that disagrees with Laplace's hypothesis is d) The sun's formation involved the capture of a passing star. The nebular hypothesis, supported by Laplace, posits that the Sun and solar system formed from the collapse of a molecular cloud with conservation of angular momentum, not by capturing a star.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that disagrees with Laplace's hypothesis of the sun's formation is d) The sun's formation involved the capture of a passing star. Laplace's hypothesis, also known as the nebular hypothesis, suggests that the solar system, including the Sun, formed from the gravitational collapse of a giant molecular cloud. During this process, conservation of angular momentum played a critical role as the cloud contracted, leading to the rotation of the Sun and the formation of a spinning disk around it, from which the planets coalesced.
Nuclear fusion is indeed the process that generates the Sun's energy, progressively converting hydrogen into helium and releasing energy that counteracts gravitational collapse, sustaining the Sun's luminosity over billions of years. Contrary to the idea of the Sun capturing a passing star, the collapse of the solar nebula and conservation of angular momentum are central to the nebular hypothesis for solar formation.