The peak intensity of sunlight arriving at the upper atmosphere of the Earth is around 1300W/m2. The Earth is situated roughly 55 x 106 km from the Sun. The radius of the Earth is around 6000 km.
a) Determine how much total energy/second arrives at the Earth from the Sun.
b) How much total energy per second is emitted by the Sun?
c) Using (b), determine the intensity (W/m2) of sunlight at the surface of the Sun and then, using an equation from last semester, determine the temperature of the Sun (assuming it is a perfect blackbody.)
d) What is the ratio of the pressure of the sunlight pushing on the Earth to the gravitational pull of the Sun on the Earth?