eli5/ Why is there magma at the center of the earth? What does it do? How does it stay so hot for millions of years without “losing” its temperature?
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The core of the Earth is actually solid, but still quite hot. The surrounding material is more goopy and molten.
When Earth formed, a lot of heat was produced, and because the planet is *so goddamn big*, it takes a very long time to shed that heat and cool off.
That alone does not explain it, though. Even accounting for that, Earth should have cooled down quite some time ago. There is another thing that keeps adding heat; radioactive decay. Radioactive material in the ground sits there decaying and generating heat. Relatively small amounts of heat, but because Earth is so big (and thus insulated), this heat is enough to keep the cure very hot.
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