0
Actually there is debate on exactly what it looks like and what it is made up of. Most are based on physical science theories and what we know of geology.
Imagine this. if we were to dig down far enough we would stop digging through rock and have reached molten lava. lava near the surface is in veins like rivers and come out many places, like volcanoes. However below the solid rock we stand on there are whole lakes of lava. Below that are whole oceans of lava, until you go down far enough to the point were there is nothing but lava, Now called Magma.
on average the solid crust of our planet is about 3 miles (in oceans) to 110 miles (mountains) thick and it floats on this magma like a boat on water. below that is over 4000 miles of hot molten rock that acts like water (very thick hot water to be sure) to our crust.
Have you seen the point yet? we stand on solid rock that is just a shell that is only 1/40 of distance to center of the world. Picture a balloon. the skin is the ground you walk on and the air inside the Magma!
US
......................................... Liquid rock ........................................... .
Gravity holds all this together. It was once thought that at the core was a superdense Solid Iron core. This may be true but strangely enough gravity would not form this (I.e., heavy iron sinking to core of planet. Because gravity pulls you in towards the most mass. Our planet is very massive so on the surface it pulls you towards the core.
BUT at the core what happens is that all that mass that was pulling you down is NOW over your head Pulling you UP! but its all around you so now it is pulling you in every single direction. If you place a balloon at the center it would stay a perfect sphere. and if poped it would coat the inside like a pond in every direction you looked.
So - forgetting everything else at the moment. and considering just gravity then the center of the planet would have to be a hollow sphere. the size determined by the balance of the pull up and the pull down of all that mass.
However, because of heat and other factors there is a lot of pressure exerted (like when you go underwater the pressure increases). Is there enough pressure to overcome the gravity and collapse the hollow sphere I just described? Probably, so we are back to a solid core, but it is nowhere near as dense as first thought. And is probably made of of layers of heavy and light elements that find balance somewhere between the core and the surface. Or at least is in the process of doing this.
This "Thought Experiment" we just did is an example of how scientists determine what the core would look like.Anyone - including you - can do this for any problem you come up with. It is the basis of Scientific thinking. Scientists know more about the reasons why they accept one idea and reject others. But they too have to use "Thought Experiments" in order to find out what they do not know so they can devise other experiments that will tell them the answers.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
What kind of matter that makes up earth interior help scientists make inferences?
scientists know the mass and the volume of earth how could this information help them make inferences about thr kind of matter that makes up the earth interior
How do geologist know what Earth's interior looks like?
Earthquakes occur frequently. They create different types of waves that travel through the earth at a variety of speeds. Certain waves are also reflected and refracted by some materials. As a result it is possible to tell where boundaries are between two different types of materials. By knowing the speed the various waves travel through the various materials, it is also possible to know the density of various materials. Geologists know the material ejected by volcanoes of various types. The density in the center of the earth is the same as a mixture of iron and nickel. Just above the center of the earth is heavy material, but is a guess!
What is the downward pull of a object due to gravity?
The strength of the force in each direction between the earth and any mass is called the "weight" of the mass. The force is equal in both directions, which means that the weight of the mass on earth is the same as the earth's weight on the mass. The force acts along the line between the center of the earth and the center of the mass. The direction toward the center of the earth is customarily referred to as the 'down' direction, and toward the center of the mass as the 'up' direction.
Why is it important that scientist know and accept their limitations?
why is it important that scientists know and accept their limitations?
Scientists hypothesize that life may have existed once on what planets?
Yes, demonstrably the planet Earth has life. Scientists are currently looking for life on Mars (no proof of life recognized there yet) and are speculation that some extrasolar planets may be in the Goldilocks zone for life.
How do the scientists know that the center of the earth is hot?
By the way earthquake waves refract as they pass through it.
Can you really live in Kepler 22b?
well,scientists dont know yet.All they know is that it looks like earth only bigger
How do you know what is in the center of earth?
The center of the earth is the inner core.
What do scientists Know about aliens?
they were first on earth
How do scientists know that their is a red hot coar in the center of earth?
A man named Richard Dixon Oldham discovered that the earth has a core. He determined this by studying the propagation of seismic waves from earthquakes. He hypothesized that the seismic waves had an origin, which he believed came from the center of the earth from a molten core.
How do you know what you know about the center of the earth?
we drill very deep in the earth .
How do scientists know the poles of the earth are moving?
a compass
Why do scientists on Earth want to know so much about other planets?
We may possibly know how Earth was created.
How did scientists know how old the earth is?
By carbon dating minerals, fossils or objects, in the earth.
What apart from iron is the center of the earth made from?
While the Earth's core may be a mixture of different magnetic materials, it is made primarily of iron. Scientists know this from the velocity at which seismic waves travel through the core of the Earth.
How do scientists know that planets are closer to earth than the stars?
not a clue
What do we know about what it looks like beneath the earth's crust?
You will never know what it look like under the earth's crust :)
