Planetary differentiation

Planetary differentiation is like making a cake!

Imagine that your mom or dad is baking a cake. At first they mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl. But then, they pour the mixture into a cake pan and put it in the oven to bake.

As the cake bakes, the different ingredients start to separate and form distinct layers. The bottom of the cake gets thick and heavy, and the top gets lighter and fluffier. This is because the heat causes the ingredients to change in different ways, and to separate based on their properties.

The same thing happens to planets when they are first formed. When a planet is still just a big ball of molten rock, all the different materials mix together. But as the planet cools, the materials start to separate based on their properties. Heavier materials, like iron and nickel, sink toward the center of the planet because they are denser, while lighter materials, like oxygen and silicon, stay near the surface.

Over time, this process of separation makes the planet's crust, mantle, and core. Just like how the cake has different layers, the planet has different layers too. The crust is like the cake's top layer, while the mantle and core are like the bottom layer.

So, just like baking a cake, planetary differentiation is the process of separating different materials based on their properties to create distinct layers within a planet.