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Cloudboy9001 t1_iv1b7gh wrote

Reply to comment by ZoneEnder666 in If the inner core is the hottest part of the Earth, hotter than the liquid outer core, then why is it a solid? by Paradigm7657

At a hypothetical exact center of the Earth (assuming, for argument's sake, equal distribution of elements/density in the Earth), a particle of matter would be pulled equally in all directions--balancing out; nevertheless, there is a column of matter on all sides of said particle pushing down on it.

From what I gather, it's believed that there is significant but not extremely substantial heat generated from ongoing rasioactive decay. (It's thought that billion uranium deposits may have naturally undergone criticality/self-susutaining fission.)

The state of matter is a function of both temperature and pressure. Propane at modest pressure can be stored as a liquid that turns into a gas at atmospheric pressure during use. Water in a pressure cooker (about 2x atmospheric pressure) has a boiling point of around 120 degrees C; conversely, food cooked on a tall mountain may take much longer due to a less massive column of air pressing upon the water (which lowers its boiling point).

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CrustalTrudger t1_iv1biv8 wrote

> From what I gather, it's believed that there is significant but not extremely substantial heat generated from ongoing rasioactive decay.

This depends on where you are. I.e., this is broadly correct for the core specifically in that we don't consider there to be many radioactive elements in the core. However, in terms of the total internal heat budget, radioactive heat production accounts for roughly half of the heat budget, but this is primarily from elements in the mantle and crust.

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