Why is the center of the earth molten iron and not heavier metals, such as gold?

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I would assume heavier molten metals would be in the center of the earth. Is it possible that the center has different molten metals on top of each other with a high concentration of iron on the outside of the core?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

They are absolutely there. It’s just that the percentage of iron is so much that you may as well just say ‘iron core’.

Also, we don’t know for certain the exact makeup of the core since we can’t actually go there and take samples. Instead we need to infer by measuring things like seismic waves, studying what comes out of volcanos, figuring out what could cause effects like the the magnetic field and so on.

One of the things that geologists have to guess on are the compounds deep inside the earth. At the extremes of temperature and pressure found deep down, it allows compounds to form that would never be found at surface conditions.

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