Earth's outer core

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/earth-s-outer-core

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the primary constituents?Liquid iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni), with trace amounts of lighter elements
2. What is the estimated temperature range?4,400 °C to 6,100 °C (7,952 °F to 11,012 °F)
3. Why does the outer core create Earth's magnetic field?Hot iron rises while cooler iron sinks, and the Earth's rotation makes these movements spin, creating electric currents that generate the magnetic field.
4. How hot is the outer core?Its temperature ranges from about 4,400 °C at the top to over 6,100 °C at the bottom, hotter than the Sun's surface.

Geodynamo: The physical process by which a celestial body generates a magnetic field through the motion of electrically conductive fluid.
Magnetosphere: The region surrounding a planet where its magnetic field dominates over the interplanetary magnetic field.
Seismic Tomography: A technique used to image the subsurface of the Earth using seismic waves, analogous to medical CT scans.
Coriolis Effect: An apparent force that acts on objects moving in a rotating frame of reference, influencing large-scale fluid motion.