Technology 

How many photons are emitted per second from the sun?

Joe Ford

How many photons are emitted per second from the sun?

The total solar output is around 4*10^26 W, most of which is in the visible range. A photon of visible light has an energy of around 4*10^-19 Joules. Dividing gives around 10^45 photons released by the sun per second.

How many photons are in the universe?

Now, by using an indirect method, scientists have finally made this measurement. The team found that the amount of starlight, or the number of photons (particles of visible light) that stars have emitted throughout the history of the observable universe is 4×10^84 photons.

Do photons last forever?

Now, by studying ancient light radiated shortly after the big bang, a physicist has calculated the minimum lifetime of photons, showing that they must live for at least one billion billion years, if not forever.

How many photons reach your eyes?

About half a billion photons reach the cornea of the eye every second, of which about half are absorbed by the ocular medium. The radiant flux that reaches the retina is therefore ~2*10⁸ photons/s. The luminance of objects in the room can be measured by a simple handheld device called the luminance meter.

Are all photons the same size?

Depending on the situation, sometimes the particle aspect is useful, and sometimes the wave aspect is. While photons don’t have a physical diameter, and can be treated as point particles, their quantum behavior gives them a probabilistic size. Under this definition there is no absolute “size” to a photon.

How many photons does a light bulb emit?

So, in order to emit 60 Joules per second, the lightbulb must emit 1.8 x 1020 photons per second. (that’s 000 photons per second!)

Does a light bulb emit photons?

We see both the sun and the bulb pretty much emit photons all over the UV/Visible/InfraRed spectrum. But, do so at different intensities. That means there are a different number of photons of different colours impinging into your eye. So the total light, or the spectrum of photons, is not the same.