Planet Earth Facts

• 1. The Earth is around 4.6 billion years old according to scientists.
• 2. The Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System.
• 3. The Earth’s atmosphere is composed mainly of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), argon (.93%),
• and carbon dioxide (0.03%).
• 4. Earth’s atmosphere divided in 5 sections from the surface: Troposphere (0-13 km), Ozone Layer (13-25 km), Stratosphere (25-50 km), Mesosphere (50-75 km), and Thermosphere (75-150 km)
• 5. Earth is the fifth largest planet in the Solar System.
• 6. The Diameter of the Earth is 12,756 km (7,926 miles)
• 7. The earth’s orbital speed is 29.8 km per second (66,660 mi/hr)
• 8. Earth has only one satellite, the Moon. The Moon is the second brightest object in the sky from Earth.
• 9. Earth has an average surface temperature of 13°C (55.4°F).
• 10. The greenhouse effect raises Earth’s temperature 35°C(95°F).
• 11. Earth’s distance from the Sun – Min. 146 million km (91million miles) Max. 152 million km (94.5 million miles).
• 12. Earth is composed of: iron (32%), oxygen (30%), silicon (15%), magnesium (14%), sulfur (3%), nickel (2%), calcium (1.5%), aluminum (1.4%) and the remainder made up of other elements.
• 13. Earths main tectonic plates: African plate, Antarctic plate, Indo-Australian Plate, Eurasian Plate, North American Plate, South American Plate, and the Pacific Plate.
• 14. Earth has several layers with unique chemical and seismic properties: Crust (0-40 km), upper mantle (40-400 km), transition region (400-650 km), lower mantle (650-2700 km), D layer (2700-2890 km), outer core (2890-5150 km), and the inner core (5150-6378 km) from the surface.
• 15. The Earth is not perfectly round, rather it is an oblate spheroid. This is due to the planet’s equatorial bulge.
• 16. The magnetic poles of the Earth gradually flip flop about every 200,000 to 300,000 years.
• 17. The deepest spot on Earth is under the ocean in the Mariana Trench at 35,813 feet below sea level.
• 18. Oceans cover about 70% of the Earth’s surface, much of which has never been explored.
• 19. Due to Earth’s distance from the Sun, it takes about 8 minutes and 19 seconds for light to reach the planet from the Sun.