Glizdka
Key Member
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2019
- Member Type
- Other
- Native Language
- Polish
- Home Country
- Poland
- Current Location
- Poland
This sentence comes from a YouTube video.
"On the Sun, the plasma, made of electrically charged protons and electrons, creates a magnetic field as they move, and this magnetic field then shapes the flow of particles."
I've asked similar questions regarding in, on, and at before.
Why is it "On the Sun (...)", not "In the Sun (...)"?
As I understand it, the Sun is comprised of plasma (almost exclusively, except for the outer-most layer). The plasma is contained within the borders of what we could call the Sun. That sounds like the job in does, not on.
"On the Sun (...)" sounds like relating to its surface, the thin layer that covers the insides of the star. That is counterfactual. The outer-most layer, what we could refer to by using on, is mostly unionized hydrogen, definitely not plasma.
The only possibility I can think of is that on does not relate to any specific part of the Sun, but rather defines the "where" of our location.
"The biggest mountain in the solar system is on Mars."
"It rains diamonds on Jupiter."
"The plasma on the Sun generates a magnetic field."
I trust Kurzgesagt, the author of the video, in terms of the factuality of the content of their videos, so I believe it's either a language error, or I've misunderstood them.
"On the Sun, the plasma, made of electrically charged protons and electrons, creates a magnetic field as they move, and this magnetic field then shapes the flow of particles."
I've asked similar questions regarding in, on, and at before.
Why is it "On the Sun (...)", not "In the Sun (...)"?
As I understand it, the Sun is comprised of plasma (almost exclusively, except for the outer-most layer). The plasma is contained within the borders of what we could call the Sun. That sounds like the job in does, not on.
"On the Sun (...)" sounds like relating to its surface, the thin layer that covers the insides of the star. That is counterfactual. The outer-most layer, what we could refer to by using on, is mostly unionized hydrogen, definitely not plasma.
The only possibility I can think of is that on does not relate to any specific part of the Sun, but rather defines the "where" of our location.
"The biggest mountain in the solar system is on Mars."
"It rains diamonds on Jupiter."
"The plasma on the Sun generates a magnetic field."
I trust Kurzgesagt, the author of the video, in terms of the factuality of the content of their videos, so I believe it's either a language error, or I've misunderstood them.
