UNIT 6 : THE INTERNAL ENERGY OF THE EARTH
I.ES.ClaraCampoamor Dto. Ciencias de la Naturaleza Mª Eugenia Becerril Quintero
1. THE STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH The Earth is one of nine planets in our solar system. It was formed 4600 million years ago from matter which was created in the “Big Bang”. The outside of the Earth cooled to form a solid rock surface, but the Earth's interior remains extremely hot. The Earth is divided into four layers: The crust is a layer of solid rock which is between 5km and 90km thick . It is thinner under the sea and thicker on the continents. The mantle is a 299km layer of semi-solid rock. The temperature of the mantle is up to 500ºC. The mantle is hot enough to melt, but remains solid because of the high pressure. The outer core is made of liquid iron and nickel. It is 2100km thick. The temperature is over 5000ºC. The inner core is a solid ball of iron and nickel and its temperature is 5500ºC.
1. When was the Earth formed?. 2. When was the matter of the Earth formed? 3. Where does the internal energy of the Earth come from?