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How much of the Earth would a spoonful of the Sun scorch if held at ground level?

I basically would like to conceptualize the heat of the Sun on a smaller scale, please.

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Can I suggest starting with an understanding of the difference between heat and temperature! – Nic Sep 12 '11 at 9:41

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What part of the sun? That would make a huge difference in your question. Overall, these types of hypothetical questions are rather non-nonsensical without really defining the parameters very clearly.

That said, keep in mind, we have "released the power of the sun on the surface of the earth" a few times already. Not only that, we have even contained it! Granted, we are still in our infancy of this technology, so we are still figuring out a lot of the parameters and limitations we will face.

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Exactly. The core is a lot more compressed and hot than the skin. Even so, it's just a spoonful. My gut feeling - it will make a big boom, possibly like a large bomb, but I doubt it could destroy more than a few buildings. This should be easy to confirm/reject with a quick back of the napkin calculation. – Florin Andrei Sep 12 '11 at 18:20
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the "What part of the sun?" what my first reaction, too ... I mean, sure the transition region could be a million degrees Kelvin ... but it's nearly a vaccum, so the thermal mass cancels it out when you're taking about a spoonful. – Joe Sep 12 '11 at 18:21
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@Florin ""with a quick back of the napkin calculation."" Hmmmm, why backside of the napkin? I wonder since long about all those "back of the envelope" calculations, You got to napkins, but stay on backside. Strange :=) – Georg Sep 14 '11 at 19:30
@Georg - I know, I'm not the sharpest lightbulb in the toolshed. :) – Florin Andrei Sep 14 '11 at 20:31

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