What is the inner core?
Q: What is the inner core?
A: The inner core is the very center of the Earth.
Q: What is the temperature of the inner core?
A: The inner core is believed to be about the same temperature as the surface of the Sun: about 5700 K (5400 °C).
Q: What is the radius of the inner core?
A: The inner core has a radius of about 1,220 km (760 mi), according to seismological studies.
Q: What is the inner core believed to consist of?
A: The inner core is believed to consist mostly of an iron–nickel alloy.
Q: Who discovered the inner core and how?
A: The inner core was discovered by Inge Lehmann in 1929 using seismology. Lehmann was studying a large New Zealand earthquake and saw that vibrations seemed to be moving across something solid in the center of the planet, which she called the inner core.
Q: When was the existence of the inner core finally proven?
A: The existence of the inner core was not proved until 1970, even though Inge Lehmann wrote about it for many years.
Q: What is the pressure in Earth's inner core?
A: The pressure in Earth's inner core is about 3,500,000 atmospheres.
