| Element | Abundance
(percentage of total
number of atoms) | Abundance
(percentage of total
mass) |
| Hydrogen | 91.2 | 71.0 |
| Helium | 8.7 | 27.1 |
| Oxygen | 0.078 | 0.97 |
| Carbon | 0.043 | 0.40 |
| Nitrogen | 0.0088 | 0.096 |
| Silicon | 0.0045 | 0.099 |
| Magnesium | 0.0038 | 0.076 |
| Neon | 0.0035 | 0.058 |
| Iron | 0.0030 | 0.14 |
| Sulfur | 0.0015 | 0.040 |
|
The table of elements at left was constructed from analysis of the solar spectrum, which comes from the photosphere and chromosphere of the Sun. But it is thought to be representative of the entire Sun with the exception of the solar core because of the degree of mixing which takes place between the layers of the Sun's interior.
About 67 elements have been detected in the solar spectrum.
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