THE CORE
The Earth’s core is that last layer of the earth and lies beneath the mantle. It is the deepest and hottest layer of the Earth,
and it is made almost entirely of metal.
The core is made up of two layers: the outer
core and the inner
core.
The outer
core
The outer core borders the mantle and is mostly
made up of iron and nickel. It is different to the inner core because it
is liquid. This is because there is less pressure on the
outer core than there is on the inner core (the outer core adds a lot of
pressure to the inner core).
Iron and nickel are the two most important
metals found everywhere on the planet. On the Earth surface, iron and nickel are found in solid form. Iron and nickel form
an alloy, or a
mixture of metallic elements. The outer core is about 2,300 kilometers (1,430 miles) thick.
The alloy of the outer core is very hot, between 4,000 and 5,000 degrees
Celsius (7,200 and 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit).
The
inner core
The
inner core is shaped like a ball and made up of mostly iron. It is
approximately 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) thick. Even though iron is extremely
hot—between 5,000 and 7,000 degrees Celsius (9,000 and 13,000 degrees
Fahrenheit)—there’s so much pressure from the planet that the iron cannot melt
and because of that the inner core is solid.
Because of the metal ball Earth has in the
middle of it, the entire planet is magnetic.
Scientists believe that the outer core is what controls the Earth’s magnetic
field.The Earth’s
magnetic field protects the planet from charged particles floating around in
the solar system, such
as those from the sun. The magnetic North and South Poles are opposing sides of Earth’s big magnet.
The center of the Earth is balled up in hard
metallic material because it's the heaviest material on the planet.
When the
Earth was formed 4.5 billion years ago, all the heavier substances sank toward the middle of the Earth. The
lighter and less dense material,
such as air and
water, stayed closer to the ground and crust.
The
metals are constantly moving inside the core and the core of the Earth rotates regularly. Scientists believe that the inner
core actually rotates faster than the rest of the planet. As the liquid outer
core moves, it is able to change the location of the magnetic North and South
Poles.EARTHS CORE
The core is that last layer of the earth and lies beneath the mantle. It is the deepest and hottest layer of the Earth,
and it is made almost entirely of metal.