Active Now

ENG / LLVF - formerly of AB
Discussion » Statements » Rosie's Corner » Earth's crust and mantle is mineral-rich. It's core is almost entirely made up of iron and nickel...NiFe. What if earth had no core?
RosieG

Earth's crust and mantle is mineral-rich. It's core is almost entirely made up of iron and nickel...NiFe. What if earth had no core?

Tinkers to Evers to Chance.

Well you see our Atmosphere protects us from solar winds and radiation. The magnetic field is generated in the earth's core. The magnetic field and gravity keep the atmosphere in place. No core no magnetic field.

One thing depends upon another that depends upon another. Pull one of those "things" out and everything collapses.

Each part is necessary to the whole.

Even so what would 'life" be like if earth's core did not exist? An empty hole from one side to the other? If it did not collapse upon itself somehow without gravity we'd be floating around. Would we be the we we are today or another type of we?

A hollow tube can be very strong. Could a hollow earth?

Posted - March 3, 2021
Tags : None

Responses


  • 44232
    A hollow earth would mean no internal heat, thus no tectonic activity, thus no mountains. Also, our gravity would be tiny, meaning no atmosphere. This would result in a featureless dead ball that would have not achieved orbit about the sun.
      March 3, 2021 12:38 PM MST
    2

  • 113301
    So human life could never exist in such an environment? Thank you for your reply and Happy Thursday to thee and thine! :)
      March 4, 2021 4:52 AM MST
    1

  • 3684
    It would have a "Core" of some sort,  but presumably rock rather than metal, and might well not have a magnetic field. (Actually most of the planet's primary rocks are mixtures of silica and complex compounds of metals.)

    I think it would still have a sizeable force of gravity, maybe not as much as it does have, because those rocks are themselves very dense. Given the appropriate dimensions and densities it would be possible to estimate the difference if we assumed the interior is all basalt.


    Would it still be hot? I think so because its internal heat is not from the nickel-iron but from the radioactive decay of uranium.  
      March 3, 2021 2:59 PM MST
    3

  • 113301
    So there is no way it could be a tube then? Solid outside and hollow within? Thank you for your reply m'dear. If it were as you suggest could homo saps exist? How much is our existence dependent upon earth's being precisely what it is? I shall ask.
      March 4, 2021 4:42 AM MST
    1

  • 44232
    There is no way it can be that way, but yours is a 'what if' question. Some think those types of questions are invalid...I don't. I asked a similar one a few years ago, and most argued that it could never happen, which tells me they didn't know the answer or the math.
      March 4, 2021 8:35 AM MST
    2

  • 113301
    From what I read no core could exist and the earth could still be...but differently. But things would of course be very different. I like what ifs. That is what precedes inventions isn't it? If you don't ask you don't conceive of a solution. Da Vinci what iffed long ago. Tesla What Iffed all the time. SCIFI, my favorite literary genre is based entirely on WHAT IF. What would the world be if no one ever asked what if? Guess what? I shall. No suprirse these is there? Thank you for your reply E! :)
      March 4, 2021 8:41 AM MST
    0

  • 44232
    I calculated the difference of the crust's mass and the earth's mass and  it miniscule, therefore the gravity at the surface is miniscule according to the equation F= Gm1m2/d^2.
    I will have to recalculate force between sun and earth.
      March 4, 2021 8:32 AM MST
    2

  • 113301
    :):):)
      March 4, 2021 8:42 AM MST
    0

  • 3684
    Well, science is very much a "What If?", or "How"? matter.


    A planet could not be hollow, because it forms by matter coalescing and compressing itself around a central point. So it has a "core" of some sort, but ours happens to be of metal.   
      March 5, 2021 2:46 AM MST
    0