• Question: How was Earth created?

    Asked by anon-225189 to Simon, Paul, Nawapat, Natalie, Katy on 21 Nov 2019.
    • Photo: Paul Laurance-Young

      Paul Laurance-Young answered on 21 Nov 2019:


      A cloud of gas and dust circling a very young sun were smashed together to make bigger molecules. As these got bigger, they got heavier and they started to pull together in a sphere. As more and more dust collected, it smashed together making “rocks” and baby earth began to take shape. As more dust and rock accumulated, it started to squash the stuff in the middle (a bit like being on the bottom of the pile as ALL the rest of your school piles on), meaning it got hotter in the centre. This heavier, mostly iron based material began to melt (iron heavy, tends to sink!) and the non-iron rocks floated upward; the iron core at the centre of the earth was formed, leaving a crust of rock on the surface.
      Hey Presto! One rocky planet formed!

    • Photo: Nawapat Kaweeyanun

      Nawapat Kaweeyanun answered on 21 Nov 2019:


      I second Paul’s answer. The process is officially called accretion of dust and rocks.

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