stacedude Posted April 15, 2003 Share Posted April 15, 2003 if sun went out how long would life on earth continue for before every thing died this is a quetion i must find the answer to for my home work could any one please help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blike Posted April 15, 2003 Share Posted April 15, 2003 You should consider punctuation Its hard to say, really. I would say 6-8 months?? (just a guess). Once photosynthetic plant life dies out, we're pretty much in trouble, since all of our food relies on plants. I'm sure there would be some autochemotrophs at the bottom of the ocean that would survive on unaffected by the sun's disapperance, though eventually I would imagine the effects would be so drastic everything would be wiped out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M-CaTZ Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 Actually if the sun burned out then life on earth would end instantly or very rapidly, because without sun there is no heat, and without it everything would freeze. The whole earth would become solid, and there would be no life of anysort. Im not sure if you meant the sun going out as in what i just described or just if it remained night for a long time, but the sun was still there. In that case, Blikes theory is feasible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fafalone Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 I'd give it about a year before humans in advanced countries started dying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blike Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 Actually if the sun burned out then life on earth would end instantly or very rapidly, because without sun there is no heat, and without it everything would freeze. yea, this is why eventually everything (even things at the bottom of the ocean) would probably freeze; though I'm not sure about the organisms that live around hydrothermal vents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skye Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 Energy would be more of a problem than freezing for life to continue. Things can live in both ice and boiling water (well up to 113 C around hydrothermal vents). Without sunlight only life relying on chemical energy would survive, even in the short term. Energy derived from reducing sulphur, such as in archaea in hydrothermal vents, might be the only way to maintain life indefinately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radical Edward Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 about 10 to 20 minutes maybe. the sudden disappearance of the light pressure and other fusion related pressures within the sun would cause everything to rapidly fall inwards under gravity. the amount of gravity would be pretty huge, and since you have an entire solar mass suddenly collapsing without the related business of shells of hydrogen wafting off into space, you might well get something like a mini version of a supernova. I will assume for simplicity that it happens very quickly, as I can't be bothered to do the calculations, and that the explosion will occur at speeds near c. light takes 8 minutes to get from the sun to the earth. the resulting explosion would probably kill everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stacedude Posted April 16, 2003 Author Share Posted April 16, 2003 Thanks @blike @M-CaTZ @ fafalone @Skye @Radical Edward Thanks alot all of you cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skye Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 I just assumed 'if the sun went out...' to mean no more light. Or maybe the sun figures that as it's been producing light for billions of years, it's earned a night out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radical Edward Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 Originally posted by Skye I just assumed 'if the sun went out...' to mean no more light. so was I.... It is a result of all the radiation pressure, and interactions that cause light that maintains the sun's form. If fusion were to not take place, the sun would be alot smaller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stacedude Posted April 16, 2003 Author Share Posted April 16, 2003 i dont really need anserws y i just really need to no how long can we live without sun? i got confused by all ur anserws i am not that scientific plz help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radical Edward Posted April 16, 2003 Share Posted April 16, 2003 anywhere between 10 minutes and several weeks, there are many factors to take into account. and I am pleased that you ill not be posting about this topic anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now