How does the sun's temperature compare to the earth's temperature?

Answer 1

The sun is a star, which is primarily hydrogen gas which has gathered in significant volumes to heat the core and start a nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium.

In our solar system, we have generally two types of planets:
The inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars which are solid, such as the earth with a crust.

The outer planets in our system, JUPITER, SATURN are so called gaseous planets, which means they are made primarily of collections gas, similar to the sun. These planets consist of hydrogen and helium.

Uranus and Neptune are also gaseous planets, but they also have methane gas in addition to hydrogen and helium, and both have rocky inner cores consisting of frozen water. The inner cores are as big as earth itself.

If Jupiter or Saturn during their creation had collected more gas, they could have become the sun. As it is today, they do not have enough mass to start nuclear fusion even as their cores are heating up due to the gravitational pressures.

In other words: some planets consist mainly of iron, carbon, methane and other heavier elements. In our solar system, it is especially the inner planets which have these heavier elements which form the "solid" surfaces we associate with our own earth.

Other planets are large collections of various gasses, primarily helium and hydrogen which account for 99% of the primordial elements in the universe. Collections of hydrogen gas which become so big (and create so high pressures) that nuclear fusion starts to take place turned into stars. Other collections of hydrogen gas may exists as hydrogen planets.

Answer 2

It can be calculated exactly.

If you imagine a sphere round the Sun with a radius of 150 million kilometres, all the Sun's radiation must pass through that sphere. Calculate the area of that sphere using the common formula . . 4 x pi x R2

The Earth is on that sphere, going round in its orbit, and it intercepts part of the energy, over the area of a circle with diameter equal to the Earth's diameter, 12,500 kilometres. Calculate that area . . pi x D2 / 4

The answer to the question is the ratio of those two areas calculated, so the Sun produces 2.3 billion times more energy than the amount that falls on the Earth.

The power density arriving from the Sun at the Earth's distance is 1360 Watts per square metre, so the total power radiated by the Sun is 3.82 x 1026 Watts and the amount intercepted by the Earth is 1.66 x 1017 Watts.

Answer 3

The sun is somewhat warmer than the earth.

Answer 4

The sun provides most of the heat energy in our atmosphere.

Answer 5

Lava is typically around 700 -> 1,200 oC whereas the surface of the Sun is around 5,500 oC.

Answer 6

The sun is usually warmer than the earth.

Which is exactly what you'd expect, considering that all of the earth's warmth comes from the sun.