By volume, approximately 1.3 million Earths could fit inside the Sun if Earth were considered as a fluid that could fill the Sun's volume perfectly without gaps. This comes from dividing the Sun's volume (about 1.412×10181.412\times 10^{18}1.412×1018 km³) by Earth's volume (about 1.083×10121.083\times 10^{12}1.083×1012 km³)
. However, since Earth is a solid sphere, packing many solid spheres inside a larger sphere leaves empty space between them. Accounting for this packing density (about 72%), the actual number of whole Earths that can fit inside the Sun is closer to 930,000. This more realistic figure was calculated through simulations by YouTuber Nick Lucid, who found that about 932,884 Earths fit when considering the empty space between spheres
. In summary:
- Volume-based ideal (liquid-like packing): ~1.3 million Earths
- Realistic solid sphere packing: ~930,000 Earths
This means you cannot literally fit 1.3 million intact Earths inside the Sun, but the Sun's volume is still roughly 1.3 million times that of Earth if Earth were compressed or melted
