4 ms·
I always wondered how sure they were that the core was iron and nickel, they say it so confidently like we just know.
by luxuryballs 4y ago
I always wondered how sure they were that the core was iron and nickel, they say it so confidently like we just know.
- sbaiddn 4y agoWhen I was a kid I wondered how we knew space was a vacuum. We have a good (excellent) idea of the density of the core. We also have an excellent idea of how density changes with pressure. Add in that the core must be magnetic and a fairly common isotope in the universe, and you're pretty much left with Fe.
- luxuryballs 4y agoSo basically it’s process of elimination in a sense, we don’t know what we don’t know so until we learn more it’s Fe.
- perilunar 4y agoI still wonder how spinning molten iron can generate a magnetic field. Spinning a piece of solid iron doesn't produce a magnetic field, so why does molten iron?
- kube-system 4y agoBecause it’s an electromagnet!