3 ms·
Every instant the sun emits a certain amount of energy. After 1 second that energy is spread across the surface of a sphere 4pi(c)^2 big. After 2 seconds it'
by Symmetry 8y ago
Every instant the sun emits a certain amount of energy. After 1 second that energy is spread across the surface of a sphere 4pi(c)^2 big. After 2 seconds it's spread across a the surface of a sphere 4pi(2c)^2. And so forth.
Or another way to look at is that that at a certain distance from the sun all the energy leaving the sun is passing through a sphere that grows that same way.
EDIT: Thanks to grn for pointing out I was confusing the constant of a sphere's volume with its area. Fixed.
- grn 8y agoYou got the formula wrong. The surface area of the sphere is 4πr².
- jessriedel 8y agoHere's one check: the area of a circle is pi r^2, and each hemisphere of a sphere has area greater than that (since it has the same circular boundary, but is inflated), so you know a sphere must have area greater than 2 pi r^2.