A stupid question.

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<Stupid>

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This is probably the most stupid question that was ever posted on this board ......... but here it goes:
Assuming that it is a very clear day with no clouds in the sky and that it is about 1:00 p.m and that the sun is at it's brightess and hottest ever. What then in "watts" do you think the output power of the sun would be ?
 

Shaky & Blue

Well-known member
If I were to guess, I would say it was 400,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 watts.

Actually, I didn't guess. I can't stand questions like this without at least looking to see if the answer is readily available, so I looked it up here.

I also found it here, where some physicist expressed it like this:

"The sun's output, in watts, is
"
 
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imported_blank

Guest
What exactly do you mean "measure sunlight in watts?"

What would you compare the sun output to, HMI, XENON, TUNGSTEN, FLORESCENT???? You see different kinds of lights have different efficiencies, for instance a 1,000 watt HMI will be about fives times more efficient then a 1,000 TUNGSTEN.

What you're looking for is light output measured in "LUX" not watts. Ten LUX is roughly one foot-candle - I think?
 

cameragod

Well-known member
Do you remember in the 80’s when Philips lunched the amazing –7 lux camera? We were very exited over the cameras amazing low light capabilities until we got one and found out that Phillips had been using a different scale of lux than the rest of the world. In fact it was crap below 12 lux.
 

Shaky & Blue

Well-known member
Originally posted by Ivan:
What exactly do you mean "measure sunlight in watts?"

What would you compare the sun output to, HMI, XENON, TUNGSTEN, FLORESCENT????
To clarify, the links I provided above compare the sun to a 400,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 watt tungsten bulb.
 

texshooter

Well-known member
Originally posted by <Stupid>:

Assuming that it is a very clear day with no clouds in the sky and that it is about 1:00 p.m and that the sun is at it's brightess and hottest ever. What then in "watts" do you think the output power of the sun would be ?
Actually, it doesn't matter what the conditions are on Earth, day, night, summer, winter, clear or overcast. The Sun's OUTPUT measured in watts, does not change. The candlepower on earth at any given point on the globe is affected by local conditions.
 
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<Stupid>

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Thanks very much for you answers guys , and thanks to you "shaky & blue " for your reference to the website it really does make alot of sense.
 
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<Stupid>

Guest
My apology.... thank you BILL NYE for your reference to the website, it really does make a lot of sense.
 
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