The Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a cloud of gas and dust that surrounded the young Sun. As the material in this cloud cooled, it began to condense and form small, solid particles that eventually grew into planetesimals, or small, rocky bodies. Some of these planetesimals collided and stuck together, forming larger and larger bodies. Eventually, the largest of these bodies, known as protoplanets, grew so large that they were able to gravitationally attract and accumulate even more material. This process is known as accretion.

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