Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Science Vs. What If. It's probably pretty temperate in this model, but a cooling of the actual core could wreak havoc on the planet's magnetic field.
Earth has a very hot molten iron core. If it cooled down, the planet would grow cold and dead. The core is about 1, miles deep. It has a radius that spans over 2, miles. How long will it take for Earth's core to cool? If the sun dies and Earth managed to survive, scientists say that the iron core will take about 91 billion years to solidify completely. Furthermore, Earth will take billions of years more to cool down to the temperature of space due to a large amount of heat dissipation from the planet.
How hot is Earth's core? The core has a temperature of 9, degrees F. The results, however, greatly differ making a final conclusion difficult to draw. At the moment, it is unknown how much primordial and radioactive energy remains. To determine how much nuclear fuel remains in the Earth, the researchers use advanced sensors to detect some of the tiniest subatomic particles known to science—geoneutrinos.
Geoneutrino particles are the byproducts generated from nuclear reactions that take place within stars, supernovae, black holes, and human-made nuclear reactors. Detecting antineutrino particles is an immensely difficult task.
Massive detectors the size of a small office building are buried over 0. The depth may seem like overkill; however, it is necessary to create a shield from cosmic rays that can result in false positives. In operation, the detector can detect antineutrinos when they collide with hydrogen atoms inside the apparatus.
After the collision, two bright flashes can be detected, unequivocally announcing the event. By counting the number of collisions, scientists can determine the number of uranium and thorium atoms that remain inside of our planet. The Jinping detector in China is over four times bigger than all the detectors to date. Although the detector is big, the JUNO detector will be a staggering 20 times bigger than all existing detectors. When JUNO comes online; hopefully in — the data collected should help scientists like McDonough estimate the time left for the Earth's core to cool.
Until then, rest assured, that any estimates made are likely going to run into the hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of years in the future. By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time. By Christopher McFadden. Wikimedia Commons. Read on to find out. How hot is the core of the Earth? Follow Us on. Sponsored Stories. On the surface of Mars, scientists have seen features that are related to volcanoes and moving plates.
But they are not moving any more, and there is no magnetic field and only a thin atmosphere left. We do not know whether the core of Mars is still molten or not, but a robot called InSight recently landed on Mars that will help us to find out!
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