<p>The inside of a giant planet is not like regular gas. </p>

<p>First of all, it is hot. You are away of how it gets hot inside the Earth (causing volcanos). It is also hot inside Jupiter, but since Jupiter is bigger, it is hotter. It would be hot enough to vaporise rock under "normal conditions".</p>

<p>The pressure is immense, and things stop behaving as you are used to when the pressure is very high. For example, all the atoms in a gas are pushed so close together that they are touching (like they would be in a liquid). This means that there is no boiling point and no real difference between the gas and liquid phases. At extreme pressures, hydrogen atoms are pushed so close together that their electrons can start to flow from atom to atom, forming a fluid metal. </p>

<p>Pressure that can push atoms so close that they can turn hydrogen to a metal mean that you can't send a probe to this region. You can't swim in a metallic hydrogen sea.</p>

<p>Nevertheless, heavier atoms like iron, silicon, carbon, oxygen, will tend to fall towards the centre of the planet, and so there may be a since rocks are made mostly of atoms like iron, silicon, carbon, oxygen, you could describe this as a "rocky" core.  But don't think this is a kind of solid surface that you could stand on. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-27T11:21:13.990Z
Why can't you stand on such a core (or place a rock on it)?
d-b
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-27T18:01:28.917Z
@mistertribs What does that ("dissolved") even mean in this context!?
d-b
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-27T18:12:34.760Z
Because it isn't a solid. It is at 10,000 degrees, partly degenerate fluid.
James K
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-28T16:54:14.150Z
Chunks of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 may still be sinking into Jupiter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Shoemaker%E2%80%93Levy_9 The explosions on impact were impressive, so there may just be dust left.
Wayfaring Stranger
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-28T19:41:56.810Z
@WayfaringStranger How could it explode if it hit gas? Gas, which density, slowly increased when approaching the planet I guess. Shouldn't that offered a quite soft deceleration?
d-b
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-28T19:45:13.333Z
@hensti If you hit gas at 50km/s things explode. See the Chelyabinsk meteor for an example of something exploding when it hits the atmosphere.  But this is getting further and further from the question.  If you have a new question please ask it rather than using this comment thread
James K
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-27T09:29:51.797Z
2018-12-27T09:29:51.797Z
James K
<p>Aren't there any rock or similar firm material on/in the gas giant planets? What happens if a rock asteroid hits one of these planets? Shouldn't the rock accumulate in the center of the planet due to its high density?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-27T01:59:33.287Z
Sure! But good luck trying to see the rock / metal components of Jupiter, or getting a reasonable estimate of how much it has. :) My gut feeling is that it has around as much rock & metal as Earth does, give or take half an order of magnitude. Of course, I could be totally wrong. :)
PM 2Ring
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-27T02:03:31.240Z
However, note that hydrogen can be compressed to a very dense metallic state, and rocks that fall on Jupiter may not be dense enough to penetrate that, assuming that Jupiter does have a metallic hydrogen layer / core.
PM 2Ring
<jupiter><gas-giants><saturn><neptune><uranus>
Aren't there any rock or similar firm material on/in the gas giant planets?
d-b
# Aren't there any rock or similar firm material on/in the gas giant planets?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-12-27)

Aren't there any rock or similar firm material on/in the gas giant planets? What happens if a rock asteroid hits one of these planets? Shouldn't the rock accumulate in the center of the planet due to its high density?

**Tags:** jupiter, gas-giants, saturn, neptune, uranus

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Sure! But good luck trying to see the rock / metal components of Jupiter, or getting a reasonable estimate of how much it has. :) My gut feeling is that it has around as much rock & metal as Earth does, give or take half an order of magnitude. Of course, I could be totally wrong. :)  
> **username_1**: However, note that hydrogen can be compressed to a very dense metallic state, and rocks that fall on Jupiter may not be dense enough to penetrate that, assuming that Jupiter does have a metallic hydrogen layer / core.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-12-27. Score: 5

The inside of a giant planet is not like regular gas.

First of all, it is hot. You are away of how it gets hot inside the Earth (causing volcanos). It is also hot inside Jupiter, but since Jupiter is bigger, it is hotter. It would be hot enough to vaporise rock under "normal conditions".

The pressure is immense, and things stop behaving as you are used to when the pressure is very high. For example, all the atoms in a gas are pushed so close together that they are touching (like they would be in a liquid). This means that there is no boiling point and no real difference between the gas and liquid phases. At extreme pressures, hydrogen atoms are pushed so close together that their electrons can start to flow from atom to atom, forming a fluid metal.

Pressure that can push atoms so close that they can turn hydrogen to a metal mean that you can't send a probe to this region. You can't swim in a metallic hydrogen sea.

Nevertheless, heavier atoms like iron, silicon, carbon, oxygen, will tend to fall towards the centre of the planet, and so there may be a since rocks are made mostly of atoms like iron, silicon, carbon, oxygen, you could describe this as a "rocky" core. But don't think this is a kind of solid surface that you could stand on.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Why can't you stand on such a core (or place a rock on it)?  
> **username_0**: @mistertribs What does that ("dissolved") even mean in this context!?  
> **username_2**: Because it isn't a solid. It is at 10,000 degrees, partly degenerate fluid.  
> **username_3**: Chunks of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 may still be sinking into Jupiter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Shoemaker%E2%80%93Levy_9 The explosions on impact were impressive, so there may just be dust left.  
> **username_0**: @username_3 How could it explode if it hit gas? Gas, which density, slowly increased when approaching the planet I guess. Shouldn't that offered a quite soft deceleration?  
> **username_2**: @hensti If you hit gas at 50km/s things explode. See the Chelyabinsk meteor for an example of something exploding when it hits the atmosphere.  But this is getting further and further from the question.  If you have a new question please ask it rather than using this comment thread  

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