Which term describes the region of the Sun where energy is transported outward by radiation in the inner layers?

Which term describes the region of the Sun where energy is transported outward by radiation in the inner layers?

• A. Radiative zone
• B. Convective zone
• C. Photosphere
• D. Corona

Answer: (A)

Energy moves outward from the Sun’s interior mainly by radiation in the inner layers. In this region, photons scatter, are absorbed and re-emitted, and slowly diffuse outward through dense plasma. This radiative transport dominates until conditions shift far enough outward that convection takes over in the next layer. That outer region, where heat is carried by rising and sinking hot plasma rather than by photons, is the convective zone. The visible surface from which light escapes is the photosphere, and the corona is the Sun’s outer, tenuous atmosphere. So the description of the inner-layer energy transport by radiation is the radiative zone.

Energy moves outward from the Sun’s interior mainly by radiation in the inner layers. In this region, photons scatter, are absorbed and re-emitted, and slowly diffuse outward through dense plasma. This radiative transport dominates until conditions shift far enough outward that convection takes over in the next layer. That outer region, where heat is carried by rising and sinking hot plasma rather than by photons, is the convective zone. The visible surface from which light escapes is the photosphere, and the corona is the Sun’s outer, tenuous atmosphere. So the description of the inner-layer energy transport by radiation is the radiative zone.