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The decay of radioactive elements creates heat, and the decay of certain radioactive elements can take billions of years. Additionally, the heat in Earth's interior is partially created by compressional forces and friction between the particles that make up the Earth. This heat is insulated, depending on depth, by thousands of miles of overlying material which makes it difficult for the heat to escape to the surface. As the radioactive isotopes gradually decrease in number, and the heat gradually escapes to space, Earth is gradually becoming cooler. Because these processes take billions of years, their effects go unnoticed due to small organism lifespans.

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14y ago
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1mo ago

The Earth's internal heat is primarily generated from radioactive decay of minerals in the mantle and core. This heat has been building up over billions of years and continues to be trapped inside due to the Earth's insulating layers. The planet's large size and slow cooling rate also contribute to its high internal temperature.

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Q: Why is the earth still so hot inside if it is over 4 billion years old?
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Does the earth have 100 billion years?

No, the Earth is estimated to be about 4.5 billion years old. The universe itself is around 13.8 billion years old.


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Earth did not exist 700 billion years ago, nor did the universe. Earth is about 4.6 billion years old.


What 4.6 billion years is to the earth?

It is just a fact that earth is 4.6 billion years old.


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The Earth is currently 4.5 billion years, so in approximately 2.5 billion years time.


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There are two reasons that earth's interior is hot after several billion years. To start off, rock is a very poor conductor of heat, so residual heat from Earth's formation and any heat generate inside Earth has a hard time getting out. Earth's interior is heated primarily by the decay of radioactive material in Earth's mantle and possibly by nuclear fission of uranium in the core.


Will mankind still be around when the Sun dies?

Most likely not. The sun will not die for about 5 billion years. No single species on earth has lasted more than a few million years. Additionally, the sun is gradually becoming hotter and brighter. In about 1 billion years it will render Earth uninhabitable. It is possible that we will eventually leave Earth and venture into space. However, anything in our legacy is still around in 5 billion years it will not be recognizeably human.