The core is small by volume but very dense (massive) and very hot. An average temperature by mass would be much higher than an average by volume.
Comment on What is the average temperature of earth?
Geth@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 months agoGenuine question, how would mass vs volume change the answer?
Filibuster_Rhymes@lemm.ee 11 months ago
Aqarius@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Volume would mean get the temperature of every m3 of earth and average them out, mass would mean the same, except before averaging you would weight(ahem) them, so a cube of air counts less than a cube of lava.
Eylrid@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Counting by volume would get tricky with the atmosphere. Where do you draw the line of where the atmosphere ends? Even thousands of miles from Earth there is very thin atmosphere.
Aqarius@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Karman line?
Eylrid@lemmy.world 11 months ago
That’s reasonable, but it means that whether you count by volume or mass the atmosphere is a negligible contribution to the average.