If Mercury is the closest to the sun why hasn't the sun burnt the planet to a crisp?
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answers:
Clive say: Because it's not THAT close. It's very hot though.
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nineteenthly say: Because it's not close enough, and if you're talking about literal combustion there's no free oxygen to support it and the surface is not flammable even if there was.
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Jim say: Because Mercury is rock.
Rock can withstand the heat.
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Jeffrey K say: It has. The surface of Mercury is extremely hot and burnt and lifeless. (But the side in the dark gets very cold.)
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John say: It's pretty crispy....
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quantumclaustrophobe say: Daytime temperatures can approach 900 degrees on it's surface; if there was anything that could burn/melt at that temperature, it would've long ago...
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Adullah M say: It is now on the process of burning when the Mercury being well cooked then it would become crispy for sure.
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busterwasmycat say: Well, it is, in a sense. There is nothing of the lower-temperature compounds we have at earth surface on the surface of Mercury. It isn't "burnt" because it is rock. Rock is pretty tolerant of high temps, in case you hadn't noticed, and any components that are relatively volatile are long gone. All that is left is the "crispy" stuff. You won't find any clays.
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Ryan say: It basically has. The surface of mercury is extremely hot when the sun is shining on it.
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JA say: Because it is not hot enough to melt. It is a rocky planet and the side that faces the sun if approx. 430c...melting temp for the rocky planet would be 600c or higher
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Fred say: That would depend upon your definition of "crisp"!
Mercury's hot temperatures can rise above 800 deg. F / 430 C. The hot extreme is due slow rotational period at perihelion (minimum distance orbit)
That slow rotation also contributes to a cold far side of the Sun at -280 F / -170C.
More distant Venus 67.2 million miles from the Sun has a surface temperature slightly hotter at 867 F. / 464 C. and rotates 4 times faster than Mercury (at 36 million miles from Sun). Venus has a dense atmosphere to retain that heat with 92 times the air pressure on Earth.
Mercury's surface 800+ F temperature is hot enough to melt lead. That can be accomplished with a kitchen gas range burner or an open fire with moderate forced air draft.
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PHILIP say: It's pure rock. Rock doesn't burn.
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CarolOklaNola say: Because Mercury isn't tidally locked with the Sun is one reason Mercury rotates either 3 timed for every 2 revolutions around the or the other way around.
In addition, Mercury may have had most of its crust impacted off and all that is left is a thin crust and the mantle and core of a terrestrial planet that was originally larger and more massive than it is now. The planets probably were not always where they are now.
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Dixon say: It's pretty crispy
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PhotonX say: We have seen other solar systems with terrestrial planets orbiting so close to their suns that they are magma balls. Mercury isn't so close to the Sun that it would melt.
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droidrearangementscene say: It depends on what you consider "burnt to a crisp" to mean. If you mean it would physically ignite then the problem is the planet isn't exactly flammable...
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