Quote:
Originally Posted by Salgueiros
Ok... now i am a bit confused too. I think we can say that what heats the Earth core (as far as our knowledge goes now) is (mainly) the radioactive decay of radioactive isotopes like Potassium 40, Uranium 238, 235, and Thorium 232. This does not answer your question?
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Yes that is correct. But my point is that has virtually nothing to do (other than it was mentioned in passing) with the link that Ardeegee posted about Lord Kelvin, creationism and the age of the Earth.
If you calculate the age of the Earth based on it's temperature, that answer will be wrong because it doesn't take into account the other things that might "Cause the Heat of the Earth's Core"
Now, if you know the age of the Earth and know the initial temperature and the rate of cooling you can calculate that the temperature has to do with something other than the initial formation/temperature. But it still doesn't answer the question.
It is the knowledge of radioactivity, it's density and activity that can be used to calculate a heating effect and in combination with the initial conditions and other factors - friction and possibly others - that a reasonable explanation of "What Heats the Earth's Core" can be hypothesized.