Mercurys core is mostly made out of?

Answer 1

Like the Earth, Mercury has an iron core. But Mercury's core occupies proportionately more (3/4) of the planet's diameter than Earth's does (about half). You can think of Mercury as a metal ball the size of the Moon surrounded by about 700 kilometers (430 miles) of rocky crust. The large relative size of Mercury's core makes it the most iron-rich planet in the solar system, with iron accounting for 65-70% of the planet's mass. Mercury's abundance of iron resulted from its position near the Sun. When the planets were forming out of the same cloud of gas and dust as the Sun, the temperatures in the warm inner regions of the primordial solar nebula were so high that iron-rich minerals were just about the only ones that could condense into solids. Farther away from the Sun, other minerals could also condense. Thus the iron content of the rocky planets in the solar system decreases with increasing distance from the Sun. Mercury's iron core may also be responsible for one of the most surprising findings from Mariner 10 -- the planet's weak magnetic field, 100 times weaker than Earth's. Astronomers and geologists are still trying to figure out what causes Mercury's field. In the case of the Earth, rapid rotation of its molten iron core generates electrical currents which produce the Earth's magnetic field. But Mercury is so small, astronomers had assumed its core had cooled and solidified. Plus, it rotates too slowly to generate a magnetic field the way the Earth does. Or so they thought. Perhaps Mercury's core is still partially liquid, or perhaps the magnetic field is "left over'' from an earlier time when the iron core was molten. Astronomers continue to work on this puzzle. Mercury's extremely large core is made up of iron. For its small size, this planet contains a large amount of iron. No one really knows how this large iron core could have formed. Many scientists think that when Mercury was in its early stages of formation, it crashed into another planet whose core contained a large amount of iron.

Answer 2

Mercury's relatively diminutive size makes it hard for the gravitational force to hold any sort of constant atmospheric composition, but at any given time hydrogen, helium, oxygen, sodium, calcium, and potassium are floating around Mercury as a sort of "pseudo-atmosphere."

Mercury's high density and relatively large magnetic field almost assuredly mean that its core has a lot of iron in it. It's surface composition reflects this as well as most of Mercury's surface is composed of metallic material, the rest being silicon based.

Answer 3

Mercury's core is mostly made out of iron and is believed to be partially molten. This dense core makes up about 85% of the planet's radius.

Answer 4

iron rich Very big core to

Answer 5

It is believed to be mostly iron.

Answer 6

Iron-nickel

Answer 7

iron :)