Talk:Radiation pressure
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"In heaviest stars radiation pressure is the dominant pressure component." Can anyone explain why in heavy stars radiation pressure has a greater effect than gas pressure?
- Temperatures in heavy stars are higher than in lighter stars, and radiation pressure grows with the fourth power of temperature whereas gas pressure grows linearly with temperature. Thus in a star with 10 times the core temperature of the Sun, the gas pressure is tenfold, but the radiation pressure is 10,000-fold. - Andre Engels 22:53, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)