• Question: what is the earth made of?

    Asked by aidaaarr to David, Helen, Ian, rhysphillips, Sarah on 14 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Rhys Phillips

      Rhys Phillips answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      The Earth is essentially a big rock. Several miles under the ground, it is so hot that the rock is in a melted state. In the very centre, the rock is still very hot (nearly 5000 degrees centigrade) but solid.

    • Photo: Helen Fletcher

      Helen Fletcher answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      The earth is mostly made of iron. That’s all I know!!

    • Photo: Sarah Cook

      Sarah Cook answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      I’m no expert but I think its just a big rock!

    • Photo: David Corne

      David Corne answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      See here:
      http://www.universetoday.com/15048/what-is-the-earth-made-of/
      …but don’t get into the habit of spelling sulphur with an “f”.

    • Photo: Ian van der Linde

      Ian van der Linde answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      It’s made of lots of different things, depending on how deep you dig! It is widely believed that the centre of the earth is a molten iron sphere, but as we get closer to the surface we’ll see lots of silicon compounds as the material becomes more rocky (even if it’s melted rock!).

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