Theoretically, imagine a hole is to be drilled right through the centre of the Earth and right through to the other side. A heatproof casing is in place to stop collapse. If someone on one side of the Earth were to fall into the hole, where would they stop? Since someone falling in the other side would also fall downwards, does this mean that there is a point of gravitational freefall in the centre of the Earth's core?
2006-11-25 03:37:08 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Yes in the center the gravitational pull would be equal from all sides, freefall!
2006-11-25 03:40:55 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Essentially, the answer is yes. At the center of the earth, technically, the center of mass of the earth, gravitational effects would cancel out. If you were not moving, you would hang in the center of the earth, weightless.
It is interesting to analyze what would happen if you jumped into the hole. You would be free falling, weightless, as you fell towards the center of the earth (we will ignore air resistance for now). You would accelerate until you reached the center, then begin to slow down as gravity started tugging at you (think of bungee jumping). All this time you would be weightless. After slowing down to a momentary stop, you would begin to fall back towards the center of the earth. You would keep falling, backwards and forwards, each time not getting quite as far as the last time, for many iterations until you would eventually reach a stable, stationary point at the exact center of the earth. And there you would stay until something disturbed you. All of this time, hours, days, centuries, you would be completely weightless.
So if you find things are 'weighing you down', you now know what to do.
2006-11-25 04:18:53 · answer #2 · answered by Ken 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
evry free moving object can not feel the any acceleration. So the hole muvment will be gravitational free. That is why astronauts can feel any gravity. There are also some experiments with balistic rokets that are falling free. It takes abaut 10 min the hole experiment.
Lets supose now that you will stop at the center of the erth becouse the mass is equaly and simetricly soranding you you will feel no force fom erth but only from other bodys in space, like noom for exemple.
Try this experiment jup as high as you can an try to se if you feel any force. Because that is the free fall al about no force filing.
2006-11-25 04:08:27 · answer #3 · answered by aristidetraian 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you were in the very center of the hole you would free fall direcly toward the center of the earth, and your momentum would carry you slightly past the center, but then you would go back and fourth (just picture like a ball bouncing, it doesn't just slam into the ground and stop). Gravity is caused by the mass of an object, so wherever the most mass of the earth is you will be pulled in that direction. At the very center there is equal mass all around you, so you would stop in the center and be pulled outward equally in all directions. You would theoretically float there.
2006-11-25 03:46:52 · answer #4 · answered by Erik N 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Theoretically, an object would end up suspended in the middle of the earth, like a ping-pong ball over a pipe that's blowing air. --All objects are gravitationally attracted to the center of the mass of the nearest massive (or non-massive) object. However, the mass of the earth is always shifting due to volcanic activity, ice floes, tides and currents, magma currents deep inside the earth, and the attraction of the moon and other cosmic matter.
Picture a heavy ball suspended by a very loose spring. The ball would accelerate rapidly downward for a time... Then its acceleration would wane. Next, it would stop, and then reverse direction. The non-risk-averse individual would continue to oscillate in this fashion till atmospheric (or more likely solid or red-hot liquid) friction would stop him.
2006-11-25 04:05:47 · answer #5 · answered by Chester C 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
You wouldn't be able to because most of it (most of the mantle and the outer core) is molten. If you actually had a drill over 8000 miles long, made of unobtainium so it could withstand the heat, the hole would just fill back in.
2016-05-23 01:22:18 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You'd bounce from end to end like a ping pong ball as gravity kept changing it's pull. I don't know but it'd be pretty funny if it was true.
2006-11-25 03:45:53 · answer #7 · answered by FlyChicc420 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ideally, you should reach the other side of the hole
2006-11-25 03:45:59 · answer #8 · answered by oracle 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋