How is the surface of sun like a pot boiling soup?

The surface of the sun resembles a pot of boiling soup due to the presence of convection currents. Convection is a form of heat transfer that occurs when a fluid is heated, causing it to rise and circulate. On the sun's surface, hot plasma rises from the interior, cools down, and then sinks back down, creating a continuous cycle of movement.

These convection currents create a pattern of granules, which are bright, hot regions of plasma that appear on the sun's surface. The granules are constantly forming, evolving, and merging, giving the sun's surface a boiling or simmering appearance. The average lifetime of a granule is about 8 minutes, and they typically have a diameter of around 1,000 kilometers.

Beneath the layer of granules, there are also larger structures called supergranules. Supergranules are formed by the merging of multiple granules and can have diameters of up to 30,000 kilometers. They have a lifespan of about 24 hours and play a significant role in transporting energy from the sun's interior to the surface.

The overall appearance of the sun's surface is dynamic and ever-changing due to the continuous motion and interaction of convection currents. This boiling-like behavior is a fundamental characteristic of the sun and contributes to the processes that generate its immense energy output.