Final answer:
The Sun's spectrum reveals the presence of elements such as hydrogen, helium, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen, among others, determined through their characteristic absorption lines.
Step-by-step explanation:
Scientists have identified the elements present in the Sun's spectrum by analyzing its absorption line spectrum. The Sun's atmosphere contains many of the same elements found on Earth, though in different proportions. The dominant components of the Sun's atmosphere are hydrogen, accounting for about 73% of its mass, and helium, making up another 25%. The remaining 2% consists of other elements like carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. Essential to the study of solar composition are dark lines known as absorption lines, which are created when elements in the Sun's outer atmosphere absorb specific wavelengths of light.
The study of these absorption lines, or spectral lines, has led to the identification of a majority of the known chemical elements in the Sun's composition. For instance, when we observe the specific lines associated with iron's atomic spectrum in the sunlight, we can conclude that iron is present in the Sun's atmosphere. Similar processes allow scientists to determine the presence of other elements by matching the dark lines in the sunlight spectrum to the known emission spectra of these elements.