It is likely the earths core is hotter than the surface of the sun. Why then do we not fry?

Question

I think I have worked the answer out but I need a scientist to agree with me. (If only we all thought like that!)

The entire solar system is effected by electro magnetic radiation from the sun, which includes heat energy. Yet it's surface temperature is only as hot (or even colder!) than the huge ball of iron at the earths core. Why dont we get heat from the core as much as the sun?

I think it must be something to do with the mantle and crust being extremely good insulators, but are they really that effective to block out practically all the heat?

What's different about the sun?

Now heres a daft question...

Does gravity pull heat back in to the core?

Cheers

Answer 1

Yes. Just as in the Sahara colder than Antarctica!

Answer 2

The surface of the sun is referred to as the photosphere and it has an average temperature of 5730 K. It is believed that the core of the earth has a temperature in the range of 5000 K to 6000 K. However, between the surface of the earth and the outer core there are three layers, the mantle, the upper mantle, and the crust. Although the crust is thin, the mantle(s) are not and extend to a depth of about 2798 km. All of these upper layers are rocky and essentially solid. Overall, rock is a poor conductor of heat. Thus, we are insulated from the core by nearly 3000 km of rock!

Answer 3

Surprisingly to most folks is that gravity is a very, very weak force. Think about another force such as magnetism-a small magnet can pick up a piece of metal easily yet the whole mass of earth is still not enough to stop you standing up, pick things up, etc.

According to Einstein's General Theory of Relativity the earths gravity will still "pull" heat (which is just infra-red radiation) back to the core but the effect is so small as to be unnoticeable.

Answer 4

It's all being kept in place by DIVINE ORDER.

Just BELIEVE first, and THEN you'll see.  Save yourself all that stress on your brain, which is never satisfied.

Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth, and The Life.  Forever.

†

Answer 5

I still think the sun is hotter because its way bigger than earth and melts every incoming astroid and a theory is that astroids are collected over time to create a planet. I think heat escape thats why the sun warms us.

The sun's surface is about 10,000³ Kelvin. I saw it on "Are you Smarter than A 5th Grader"

Answer 6

It is, in fact, very UNLIKELY that the earths core is hotter than the sun [ mean surface temp of around 6,000 Celsius ]. While it is not possible to measure temp. of earths core, it is generally presumed to be between 3,000 and 4,000 Celsius. You are also overlooking the relative size of both ! Comparing the earths core to the suns surface would be like comparing a grain of sand to a basketball ! As regards gravity, this is very much dependent on the density of the 'object' [ earth ], since some of the inner core is liquid one would presume the gravitational effect of the core would be minimal.

Note, Timothy S. [ above ] has his facts wrong re. temperature of suns 'surface' as opposed to temp. of 'sun' itself !

Answer 7

Earth's core temperature is around 3700C according to the latest investigations - link.

Sun ___SURFACE___ temperature around 6000C.  Core temperature is around 15millionC

Why don't we fry?  The core is a long way away, rocks are good insulators - just see how close you can get to lava from volcanic eruptions.

Answer 8

Who told you that load of rubbish?

LMAO the Earths core hotter than the Sun

Answer 9

The earths core is nowhere near as hot as the sun. Who told you that?

Earths core is around 5000 - 6000 degrees C whereas as the sun is about 15000000 degrees C

To the answerer below me. If I'm wrong then hit the thumbs down. Don't bring it up in a personal attack, very poor manners.

Answer 10

Let's say the surfaceof the Sun is 6000 degrees and so is the Earth's core. The Sun is made of gas so the density is less. The Earth's core is dense Iron and is covered by the mantle which holds the heat in. The deeper you go the hotter it gets. If the core was cold then the surface would be cold like Mars.

Answer 11

The surface of the Earth is 15°C on average

The surface of the Sun is approximately 6,000°C (11,000°F).

The Earths core is estimated to be between 5,000 to 6,000 °C (>9,000 °F)

The centre of the sun is approximately 15,000,000° C; 27,000,000° F

So, it IS true that the surface of the sun is ROUGHLY the same temperature as the earths core. However, both the sun and the earth lose significant proportions of their heat energy by the time the heat reaches the surface (as you suggested, this is due to heat insulation).

The earth loses 99.75% of its heat by the time you reach the surface (and this figure would be higher if we ignored the effect of the sun). This is mainly due to the thick layer of crust (which is only about 20 miles in depth) which keeps us at bay from the hot mantle underneath (which we would feel significantly more than the sun if we had no thick crust). Where you have breaks in this crust, volcanoes are a good example of just how hot it is beneath the surface. In essence, the Earth itself is a very good insulator.

However, the sun is also a very good insulator, and so the Earths insulation is not the answer. The sun loses 99.97% of its heat by the time you reach the surface (a higher percentage because the sun is significantly bigger, despite its lower insulation properties). As a consequence, the sun actually loses a higher proportion of its energy in the form of insulation.

So, why do we feel the sun more? Well, the Earth is radiating at a surface temperature of 15°C, and the Sun at 6000°C - and that in essence is the answer. Every part of the sun is significantly hotter than the comparable part of the earth.

Bear in mind that although the suns radiation is diversified the further it travels, as it travels through space it meets no resistance. It is easy to over-estimate the effect travelling through space has on heat - in actual fact no heat radiation energy is lost whilst travelling through space. The only reason the energy from the sun isn't hotter is because by the time the energy meets the Earth it is diversified over such a massive 'virtual' sphere, it has become significantly diulted. A good example of this process in reverse is when mirrors are used to re-direct sunlight to one focal point, and this becomes hot enough to cook food.

In summary - to compare the Earth and the Sun you have to compare the SAME parts of both. You have to compare the surface with the surface, and the core with the core. This alone explains why the sun has significantly more effect on us.

To answer your question about gravity - it's actually debatable. If you believe in the particle/wave duality (the duality of light theory) - then yes, gravity will 'slow' heat radiation down to an extent. However, the gravity of the sun is MUCH more significant than the gravity of the Earth, and in either scenario, the 'slowing down' caused by this gravity is almost negligable (since a particle has almost no mass and is therefore barely affected by gravity).

Answer 12

The temperature in the Earth's core is estimated at about 5000-7000 C.

The temperature at the surface of the sun is about 6000 C, which is comparable to the core of the Earth but nothing compared to the interior of the sun, which is over 13,000,000 degrees C.

Regarding you question, although the sun is much further away from us than the centre of the earth, we feel it heat much more readily. This is because the sun radiates heat in the form of electromagnetic radiation, and at our distance of 93,000,000 miles (150 million km) the radiation is just the right intensity for us.

The centre of the earth would also radiate, but such radiation is blocked by thousands of miles of crust and mantle. The heat in the centre of the earth would also conduct a way through the mantle, and indeed, even the mantle is hot. It's mostly the crust that insulates us from the heat. In places the crust is thin and cracked, and in those places the heat from the earth's core is felt in the form of volcanoes and hot springs.  

So, the only real difference is that there's nothing to block the sun's heat from us, but we've got the outer layers of the earth to protect us from the heat at the earth's core -  and rock is a very good insulator.

Addition

The mantle varies in temperature - it is about 4000 C near the core, and the nearer the crust you get, it cools to about 870 C just under the crust. So the mantle has a considerable insulating effect. As for gravity - the only way I can think of to include it is to consider convection. Since the core and inner mantle are liquid, it seems likely that convection currents would arise. But to answer your question "Does gravity pull heat back in to the core? ", the answer is NO, becasue the reverse would be true.