How does energy from the sun get in your body?

Answer 1

Yes, your body runs on "solar energy". Here's how.

1. The Sun shines down on the Earth - specifically, the Earth's oceans - and surface water (from lakes, rivers and oceans) are evaporated. The water vapor forms clouds, and the clouds often result in rain.

2. Plants grow on the surface of the Earth, using rain and sunlight. Sometimes we eat the plants directly, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and other raw vegetables.

3. Sometimes we cook the plants to make them more palatable; corn, beans, grain that becomes either bread or cereal. Cooking requires energy; the energy may be directly created by solar power systems, or by electricity generated from hydroelectric power (where rain falls in the mountains, feeding rivers that spin turbines in dams) or coal, oil or natural gas (in which the fuel is formed by decomposing plant or animal material trapped in rock layers). In any event, the original energy is solar, no matter how it was stored or for how long.

4. Animals like pigs, cows and chickens eat the grain, plants, or vegetables; we kill the animals and eat them.

5. Even nuclear power is solar energy, although in that case, the "solar" is from long-dead Suns from billions of years ago. The uranium, thorium and other natural radioactive elements were created in the titanic explosions of supernova stars, and that dust became part of our planet when it formed 4.6 billion years ago.