Question by darkpheonix262: How much energy does the earth generate to make the geo-magnetic field?
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Answer by clarbell
It does not take any energy to make a magnetic field. Electrons in motion create a magnetic field and they, of course, have energy. But the magnetic field that they produce comes for free.
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princess leia says:
September 26, 2012 at 4:11 pm (UTC 0)
The geo Dynamo in the Earth’s core generates the magnetic field of the Earth. The outer core is molten liquid iron, while the inner core is solid iron and nickel. “Eddy currents” arise in the molten iron from the spinning motion of the Earth. It has been estimated that the strength of the main magnetic field AT THE CORE is about 100,000 Gauss, or 10 Tesla. (1 Tesla = 10,000 gauss). This results in a magnetic field of 0.5 to 2.0 Gauss ON THE SURFACE of the Earth. This is because magnetic flux diminishes as the inverse cube of the distance. The closer you are to the core, the greater the magnetic flux, and the further away you are, the smaller the flux.
We are in great need of a mathematical calculator/program which will allow us to enter the radius of a planet/moon, the radius of the core and it’s density, and for it to calculate what strength the MAIN MAGNETIC FIELD should be to produce 0.5 to 2.0 Gauss on the surface. In other words, if I had to insert a bar magnet (or a superconducting ring) into the core of a planet/moon, how strong would it have to be to produce 0.5 to 2.0 Gauss on the surface of the planet–would it be 5, 10, or 15 Tesla? It would depend on the amount of iron/nickel resident in the core and the size of the planet/moon in question.
This has important implications since NASA has discovered over 165 moons in our own backyard, the Solar System. Research has shown that it is the magnetic field of Earth which repels the solar wind and protects our water molecules from being photodissociated by solar ultraviolet. Mars once had flowing rivers, but lost all of it due to photodissociation by solar ultraviolet.