Members: Legaspi, Labitad, Manlapaz, Sayson, Perey, Frivaldo, Alcober, Miranda

Date: September 21, 2021

Section: Grade 10-A Habakkuk

ACTIVITY: FRAYER MODEL

Descriptions
 It is the fourth layer of the Earth
 The temperature of the inner core is said to
be as hot as the sun’s surface
 The inner core is solid compared to the
outer core which is liquid. It is solid
because of the pressure it receives from the
three layers above it, the weight of these
layers made it hard for the molten materials
inside the inner core to flow.
 It is composed of very hot metals such as
iron and nickel.
Characteristics
 The Earth's inner core is large, measuring
2,440 km (1,516 miles) across.
 It makes up 19 percent of the Earth's total
volume, which makes it just 30 percent
smaller than the moon.
 The inner core is hot, since the
temperature is about 5,200° Celsius
(9,392° Fahrenheit).
 It is mostly made of iron.
 It creates a magnetic field, since the outer
core which consists of molten iron and
nickel flows around the inner core, it
produces a magnetic field.
 Despite the high temperature that should
melt these metals, the extreme pressure
keeps the inner core in a solid phase.
 The solid metals also make the inner core
very dense.

Layer of
the Earth

Chemical Compositions Temperature, Thickness, and Density

 Comparing to the outer core, the inner  The melting point of the inner core is
core has solid materials. above the melting point of iron and it’s
  The inner core is primarily made up of about 5,200° Celsius (9,392°
nickel and iron. Some elements that can Fahrenheit).
be seen have the capability of dissolving  The inner core is 1300km thick.
iron like cobalt, platinum, and gold.  The density of the inner 'solid' core is
 The inside of the inner core contains between 9.9-12.2 g/cm3
materials that are denser than rocks.
 According to the scientist, chondrite that
contains iron, silicon, magnesium, and
oxygen is evident in it.

PROCESSING QUESTIONS:

1. How do scientists identify the layers of the earth?

 Scientists identify the layers of the earth through seismic waves that a seismograph is able
to catch or detect. The layers of the earth contain different materials which make each of
them behave differently and the distinction of the behavior of these layers makes it possible
for it to have different seismic waves as well. Every time the waves go through changes it
means that there is a change of materials, texture, or behavior as well that makes it change
its seismic pattern. These changes made scientists realize that the deeper the waves go the
pattern changes, meaning the earth is composed of layers with different materials and
behavior.

2. What is the earth’s interior made of?

 The earth’s interior is made up of crust, mantle, and core. The earth is composed of rocks
in form of solid and molten, it is also composed of other metallic elements. The mantle is
the middle part of the earth’s interior and it is composed of metallic compounds, aluminum
and magnesium are also evident. The mantle is denser than the oceanic and continental
crust. The core is the innermost layer of the earth and it is divided into two, the outer liquid
core and an inner solid core. These three are known to be the compositional layers but the
 interior of the earth is also characterized by its mechanical layers such as the lithosphere,
asthenosphere, lower mantle, and outer and inner core. These to classification differs on
how they described each layer, compositional layers focus on the chemical composition or
the materials of each on the other hand mechanical layers focuses on how the materials in
the layers behave and their texture. Lastly, crust and mantle has a boundary between them
called the Mohorivicic discontinuity, while mantle is divided from the core by the
Gutenberg discontinuity.

3. How will you describe its internal structure?

 The Earth is made up of 3 compositional layers: the core, mantle, and crust. The crust is
the upper layer of the lithosphere and is mostly solid rock. The mantle is the middle part
of the earth’s interior and is denser than the continental and oceanic crust. It is a solid layer
but acts like a viscous liquid due to temperatures being close to the melting point of key
minerals in this layer. The core is the innermost part of the earth below the mantle and is
about 3500km thick. At the center of the earth lies the core that is split into two sections:
the inner solid and the outer liquid core. The outer core is believed to be liquid because of
the slower secondary waves that couldn’t pass through this layer and were deflected. The
inner core is a solid, composed of very hot metals with pressures that are so great that the
metals do not flow like a liquid but are forced to vibrate like a solid.

4. What are the features of the Earth’s crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core?
 The crust is the thinnest and the outermost layer of the Earth that extends from the surface
to about 32 kilometers below. It is subdivided into 2 regions: oceanic and continental crust.
The continental crust is about 40 km thick and is elevated from the sea, it is mainly made
up of silicon, oxygen, aluminum, calcium, sodium, and potassium. It is also made of less
dense rocks such as granite. The oceanic crust is up to 10 km thick and is submerged or
found under the ocean floor and is made of dense rocks such as basalt. It is heavier than
the continental crust. The mantle is found beneath the crust and extends 2900 km from the
earth’s surface. The mantle is mainly made up of silicate rocks. The lower part of the mantle
consists of more iron than the upper part, that is why it is denser than the upper portion. It
is solid except the isolated pockets of molten rocks. The inner core and the outer core are
 made up of similar stuff chemically; both are made mostly of iron, with a little nickel. The
difference between them is that the outer core is liquid because it is not under enough
pressure to be solid, and the inner core is solid because of the great amount of pressure that
prevents the iron from melting. The pressure and density are simply too great for the iron
atoms to move into a liquid state.

5. How did the scientists deduce which layer of the earth is solid, liquid, or semisolid?
 Using the seismograph, scientists used it to measure seismic waves. We all know that
humans aren’t able or capable enough to go deep under the earth’s surface, that is why
scientists used seismographs to record the movements and waves under the ground,
especially during an earthquake. Using this instrument, they are able to observe that there
are changes to the pattern of seismic energy. If there are changes in the seismic energy
meaning there are also changes in the density whereas there are particular locations that it
is liquid, solid, or semi-solid. There are changes in flows and velocity of materials as it
goes deeper. In addition, there are also called P-wave and S-wave. Fluids or liquids does
not support shear waves (S-waves) which is why if the wave length suddenly flat-lined the
point that it reached is liquid or molten material. On the other hand, if these waves increased
it means that part is hard or solid. Now, once they were able to detect this, they will measure
the time of how long it flat-lined or how long it’s increasing to determine how deep that
particular layer is.