Harriet did her best to keep her eyes focused into Lyle's. She explained, "The earth's core is made of iron, but it's two kinds, you see. There's the solid iron inner core, heated thousands of degrees, and the molten liquid outer core of iron magma, even hotter in temperature. The magma wraps around the iron core, but not holding it tight. It's tumbling and spinning, and the heat generated from the friction maintains their extreme temperatures"
"Friction?" Lyle asked, writing into his notebook.
She nodded. "Yes. And as the outer core is spinning around the inner core, the world spins with them. Some even say it augments the gravity that holds everything to the Earth."
"...augments... gravity..." He murmured as he wrote in his notebook.
Harriet leaned her shoulder into his, pointing at his notations. "Yes, 'augments' - not 'creates'; that's a misnomer. The earth has its gravity, but so does everything else Everything, all of us, possess some innate magnetic attraction..."
Lyle shot upright. "So if the outer core's liquid, and the inner core's solid, what keeps the outer core in?"
She huffed. "That's the mantle! It's a bunch of rocks!"
"I'm sorry. I'm trying to keep ups, but you're throwing a lot of stuff at me here! You gotta keep it simple."
Letting out a sigh, Harriet replied, "Evidently..."
inspired by Discover Magazine article, "Taking the Temperature of Earth's Core"
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