Standard solar model

Imagine that the Sun is like a big round ball with a fire burning in its center. This fire is called fusion - it's when atoms slam together to create new atoms and release energy in the process. Scientists have studied the Sun for a long time and developed a model to explain how it works, which they call the standard solar model.

The standard solar model says that the Sun is made up of different layers, kind of like a cake. The innermost layer is the core, where the fusion reactions happen. The core is really hot and really dense, like jelly that's been squeezed really tight. As you move towards the outside of the Sun, the layers get cooler and less dense.

The energy from the core is carried outwards by something called radiation. Imagine if you could shoot a laser beam from the core of the Sun - the light would travel all the way through the layers until it reached the surface, where it would escape into space. This is how the Sun releases energy.

But there's also something else happening in the Sun, and it has to do with the way that gases behave under pressure. You know how when you squish a balloon, the air inside gets really hot? That's because the pressure is squeezing the air molecules together, creating heat. The same thing happens in the Sun - the pressure in the core is so intense that it squishes the atoms together, causing them to release even more energy. This is called convection, and it helps to carry energy from the core to the outer layers of the Sun.

So that's the basic idea behind the standard solar model - you have fusion reactions in the core, which release energy that is carried outwards by radiation and convection. By studying the Sun and its behavior, scientists have been able to develop this model to help explain how it works.