"Why does the earth have to have melted rock in the middle?"?

Question

My 4 year old asked me this afternoon what was inside the earth, and I told him I thought it was magma, or molten rock. He asked me why. Lol, I told him that's what God wanted in the middle of the earth, but he wants a scientific explanation. So, anyone have any ideas what I can tell him?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Click this link below: Its all about planet earth.

http://library.thinkquest.org/28327/html...

Answer 2

What you can tell him is that when things get squished together, they get hot, and that's what is happening about 20miles(rough estimate) below our feet. Remember KISS (keep it simple).

Answer 3

I actually think it is the force of gravity that heats up the core of the earth. All the force is being drawn to the center of the earth. Also, when the earth was being formed 4 billion years go it was being bombarded by comets and asteroids and the other space junk that formed the rest of the inner planets. For millions of years the earth was just a ball of molten lava which eventually cooled. But the center of the earth has not cooled yet.

Answer 4

You can tell him that when the earth was formed it was very hot, and it takes a looooong time for something that big to cool down. And the center is always the last part to cool. You can use an explanation from everyday life such as, think of when you toast a marshmellow, even if the outside feels cool, the inside may still be hot and you can get burnt. That is because the inside takes longer to cool.

Answer 5

becasue its so dense its gets hot and from all the friction but they cant call it a liquid so they call it plasma, what the sun is made out of

Answer 6

Your first answer is probably best but . . . .

Most scientists think that the very heavy radio-active elements all gravitate towards the center of the earth.  The resulting radioactive heat is enough to melt the rocks into magma.

Answer 7

It's a combination of the massive pressure at depth, the heat generated by the decay of radioactive elements, and the rotation of the earth.

Answer 8

Modern theory on creation of the earth is that it was one big ocean of magma, and has been cooling ever since.  It has cooled from the outside in, leaving the center still hot enough to be liquid.  That's about as simple as you can get, but I don't know if your young child wants to imagine the meteor bombarded earth of 4.5 billion years ago =/