If all the iron and nickel in the inner core was transmuted into gold over two weeks
If some kind of insane wizard began a ritual that would turn the inner core of the earth into gold, what would happen?
Over the course of 15 days, the entirety of the core will become gold.
Each individual atom will spontaneously gain the amount of protons, neutrons, and electrons to be a stable isotope of gold. Each atom will be selected at random, and approximately equal periods of time will pass between each selection.
Obviously, this will cause the core of the earth to become more massive, and may have a very large effect on the earth's magnetic field.
Since gold is denser than both iron and nickel, this will make the core more massive.
Given all this, how long will it be before...
It is noticed that something is amiss in the core
The effects have a significant detrimental effect on our lives
Humans start to die
Humans are wiped out
Total annihilation of pretty much all life on earth
Some of those might not actually happen as a result of this. It's not my area of expertise.
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