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Most of what we 'know' about earth's interior is theoretical. We do not have any way to gather physical evidence beyond a few miles in depth. Some of what we know comes from observing material that comes from deep within the earth, such as volcanic material and extremely old rock formations.

We also know quite accurately the mass of the earth and its volume, and can divide to get the density. From that density we can make a model of the most likely interior composition. We can also observe the earth's magnetic field to gather information to form theories about the core.

When atomic bombs were detonated below the surface (mainly in the 1950s) the artificial earthquakes they created produced compression waves that bounced off of interior structures up to about 1000 miles inside the earth. This gave scientists a tremendous opportunity to learn about the layers of the earth.

There are still some hot debates (pun intentional) regarding the temperature of the inner core. One study said confidently that the core was 3677 C. Wikipedia quotes the estimate 5700 C. Writer Byrdand Black says 5000 C to 7000 C. Others give different estimates. Al Gore goofed and said that the core of the earth was several million degrees (he probably meant several thousand, or was referring to the sun).

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