Imagine you are plunging into the Sun, starting from Earth. ...

[karlynnae]

Imagine you are plunging into the Sun, starting from Earth. Briefly describe what you will experience on your journey.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Which of the following general statements about Earth's atmosphere is not true?
 
  A) The oxygen in our atmosphere was released by living organisms.
  B) Without the relatively rare gas called ozone, Earth's surface would be bathed in dangerous ultraviolet light from the Sun.
  C) The nitrogen and oxygen in Earth's atmosphere keep the surface pleasantly warm.
  D) Gas high in the atmosphere absorbs dangerous X-rays from the Sun.

[Jody Vaughn]

Answer to Question 1

First you will experience the light of the Sun and the pressure of particles from the solar wind. As you approach within a few radii of the Sun, you will enter the corona, an extremely hot, but tenuous layer of gas. The next layer you encounter will be the chromosphere, a hot layer of gas just above the visible surface of the Sun. As you plunge through the Sun's surface, the photosphere, the temperature of the gas will be about 5,800 K, which is cooler than the outer layers. You will also see the slightly cooler regions of sunspots and the granulation on the surface caused by the convection underneath. You will then enter this convective layer, feeling regions of hot plasma rising upward to meet you and seeing cooler gas descending from the surface. After passing through this layer, you will reach the radiation zone, where photons are engaged in a random dance as they are continuously absorbed and reemitted by the hot gas there. You will then reach the source of these photons, the core of the Sun, which is actively involved in nuclear fusion, converting hydrogen into helium and releasing multitudes of photons and neutrinos.

Answer to Question 2

C