What are the inner and outer cores made of?

Question

Hunter Arthur · Accepted Answer

The Earth's core is mainly iron and nickel.

Large iron crystals are assumed to make up the majority of the inner core, which is iron. The outer core is mostly composed of an iron/nickel alloy and is liquid. There are trace amounts of heavier elements in the core as well.

Layla Anderson · Answer

The inner core is solid with density up to 13 gm/cc, at the center. The outer core comprises solid-like low-viscosity liquid that reflect secondary seismic waves.

Maybe because of the fundamental structural differences between the higher-density solid below at higher temperatures and pressures and the lower-viscosity liquid above, the inner core appears to spin a little bit faster than the outer core during the orbit. All of these hints about the patterns of layers, from the surface to the center, are provided by the seismic wave propagation during earthquake events; any abrupt change in the propagation reveals discontinuity. The nearly spherical inner core with a radius of about 800 miles and the nearly annular outer core with a width of about 1400 miles may both contain iron, nickel, platinum, gold, and other elements.

Levi Acosta · Answer

undefined Iron and nickel make up the majority of the inner core, while a liquid iron-nickel alloy makes up the outer core.