Science Forums 2

[Boerseun]

Hi there, Charlie - and welcome back.

I remember we had this very same discussion last year sometime.

And the same answers apply.

The Earth does not have a hydrogen core. Density measurements conclusively exclude hydrogen forming the mass of the Earth's core.

When the sun ignited, after having condensed from the proto-stellar cloud that made up this solar system of ours, the lightest material got blown outward. That's why you have rocky planets in the interior of the solar system, and gas giants to the outside.

Yes, certainly - hydrogen makes up the bulk of our solar system. But the bulk of it is concentrated in the sun, and the gas giants.

Judging by the composition of what remnants from the planet-forming days we find on Earth, the leftovers of meteorites and such that are the detritus of our solar system's early days, the bulk of the inner planets are made of iron and nickle. Apart from meteorites, the density of the planet fits in neatly with the proposition that Earth has an iron core. That, also, is ignoring Earth's handy magnetic field, which is also an iron artifact. Or, for that matter, the fact that hydrogen is simply lighter than iron, and will rise, while iron will sink. I can go on, but the fact remains that the Earth's core does not consist of hydrogen.