What would happen if you dug a hole through the earth and jumped into it?

Question

My question si totally hypothetical (of course notwithstanding that you would be burned by the flames, etc). I mean, you couldnt fall all the way though the planet and end up in china which is what my dad used to tell me. In actual fact, I imagine that you would get to the centre of the earth and then you would just hover there and be stuck? So would you float in the space?

Answer 1

What we are dealing with here is essentially a cosmic pendulum. But let me explain a few basic concepts first. For one thing, we are going to disregard the problem of the earth's molten interior. There is no surer way to ruin a good discussion than to contaminate it with the facts.

Next, you must force yourself to accept the following notion: if you were somehow teleported to a cave in the center of the earth, you would find that you were weightless. This is because you would have approximately equal amounts of mass on all sides of you, which would cancel each other out.

Now then. If you jumped into a frictionless (and consequently airless) interpolar tube, you'd fall, obviously, picking up momentum as you went. As you approached the center of the earth the pull of gravity would decline and eventually (at the center) cease, but inertia would keep you going.

Once past center, though, the pull of the earth's mass behind you would begin to slow you down, at exactly the opposite rate that you'd accelerated. You'd come to a complete stop just at the brink of the Antarctic end of the tube, where you'd have an opportunity to wave gaily to the bunny rabbits or whatever they have out there before beginning to fall back in the opposite direciton. This process would continue forever.

Once we start figuring for the effects of atmospheric friction, of course, the situation changes. After a certain point in the course of falling you'd reach a top speed called "terminal velocity," where air resistance would counteract the accelerating effects of gravity. With less momentum, you'd only fall a relatively short distance past the center of the earth before you stopped and started heading in the other direction. Eventually you'd reach equilibrium at the earth's center.

I was going to calculate how long this would take, but twenty minutes of computation has produced no useful result and you didn't ask anyway. But watch where you're going.

Answer 2

You will reach other side of the earth and come back to same spot. If any resistance due to air exist in the tunnel you made, you will be held up at the centre of the earth after several series of oscillations of decreasing lengths. Instead of going through the centre of the earth, you can dug your tunnel to reach other nearer place and you can shuttle your vehicle with some kind of jet. Immediately after reaching the mid of your tunnel you have to start your jet to compensate the friction due to air existing in the tunnel and after reaching the other end, some special kind of hook should be made to klinch the other end to avoid falling back into the tunnel immediatly. The same kind of arrangements have to made for the return journey also. These are all imaginary and very risky. But it is possible in future!

Answer 3

if u dig a hole thru the centre of the earth and fall into it,negelecting the effects of magma and other harmful radiations inside it,you will float there.the gravity will act in all directions and cancel out leaving u floating.the potential energy with respect to the center of the earth is zero and the kinetic energy is maximum.so u will be floating there due to weightlessness and wouldnt find a way out.

Answer 4

yes you would float in space. since you are in the middle of a sphere, there is no gravitational force pulling you out. If you were to "fall through" you cannot pass the center because that would be technically traveling upwards away from the center, which is impossible without some other external force

Answer 5

You'd encounter a deep hole first, and then a steep mountain. You see, gravity will act on you in two directions. If that big hell hole wasn't there in the middle, you'd rock between the hemispheres.

If you dig it so that the center is not intersected, you'd get that steep mountain downfall and uprise effect.

Good thought, but don't try it, if you do, try not to have the other end in my home.

Answer 6

Yes, you would be suspended at the centre of gravity of the earth (or whatever body with a hole through the centre you chose to substitute for it). Gravity is the attractive force between the 'centres of gravity' of two bodies and is propotional to the mass of the bodies and the inverse of the square of the distance between them.

Answer 7

One of two things: you will either describe a damped oscillation across the two ends and eventually find an equilibrium at the centre, OR you will initially accelerate on your way down, then gradually slow down because of the weight of the air from the other end pushing back against you (you will be compressing that air because of its inertia), and slowly find an overdamped equilibrium.

Answer 8

You would fall through and come out the other end, if not for air resistance. Because there is air resistance, you would come up just short of the other end of the hole, and keep oscillating, the ends getting closer and closer to the center, until you settled in the center.

Answer 9

My science teacher told me that if you were to dug a hole in the earth's crust and jumped into it you would go all the way to china and before you get there you would come back to America and continue to do that so to would actually die there back and fort.

Answer 10

the earths gravitational force will force us to undergo an oscillatory motion focussed at the cnter of the earth
see wot xactly happens that when u r at the xtreme position ur attracted towrds d cntr of the earth coz of gravitation n when u reach there due to all tht acceleration u acquire a velocity so due to inertia u overshoot and reach the othr xtreme coz the gravitational force retards yr motion in yr later half and you momentarily stop at the othr xtreme n the whole process would all ovr again
this is wot oscillatory motion is
if u want i can give u the full mathematical solution fr it jst mail me at [e-mail]