IF somehow a planet fell into the sun....?

Question

would it 'fuel the fire' so to speak? would we see a marked increase in light/heat?

Answer 1

let's just hope that planet won't be earth

Answer 2

If the planet was made of lighter elements, then yes it would fuel the fire.  But it would be totally insignificant.

It would be the same as throwing a tissue into a forest fire.  It isnt going to make much difference.

Answer 3

If a planet the size of Earth fell into the sun, I doubt that it would be enough to see any difference.  Then, too, the sun is operating by fusion of Hydrogen.  It isn't a fire.  The temperature would incinerate a planet, but it wouldn't add to the fusion process appreciably, if at all.

Answer 4

it would desinigrate before it ever got the chance to hit the surface of ths sun. and if it did make it there, nothing big would happen.

Answer 5

No way.  The sun is gigantic and dense.  It's so dense that when energy is created at the center, it takes 10,000 to 170,000 years for the light to reach the sun's surface from the core.  If it takes that long for light to get out, how long do you think it would take for the planet to become fuel?

Answer 6

Maybe. It would depend what the planet was composed of.

If it was, for example, a gas planet with high percentages of helium or hyrdogen, it definitely would.

Answer 7

No. The sun is much bigger than all of the planets combined, so no marked increase in solar output would be observed.

Answer 8

Nope, unless the planet was gaseous, but even then, it would need to be hydrogen or helium.  Additionally, there are no planets of any type large enough to significantly change the mass of the Sun.