...and drop an object through it, what happens in relation to gravity? Does the object get half way, then fall the other way - or reach a point where it endlessly goes back and forth?
2006-12-10 22:00:19 · 17 answers · asked by geefunken 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
..ok, so given that it would pendulate until it stopped in the centre, would it now hover in suspended animation?
(and please, no more about it melting - this is obviously theoretical!)
2006-12-10 23:19:42 · update #1
As you have already noted, it will reach a state of harmonic motion within the center of the earth.
With regards to your second question, if it was in a vacuum, then it would never stop, i.e. it would continue this motion indefinately. But as there would inevitably be some sort of frictional force, this would eventually cause it to stop in the dead center. As gravity is now acting on it from every direction, yes, it would essentially be suspended.
2006-12-11 00:05:29 · answer #1 · answered by Michael Murphy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its not possible to drill a hole all the way through the earth because most of it is liquid. You might as well what you could do if you drilled a hole down through a cup of water.
However I think I know what you're trying to ask - so imagine an isolated piece of 'neutronium' - about a tablespoon worth - which would weigh 100 million tons. Now you cant really get such a substance anywhere but a neutron star. Basically it has the same density of nuclear matter - that is the protons and neutrons (where it gets its name) at the centres of every atom.
If you dropped a piece from the surface of the earth it would go down through the centre of the earth and its inertia would send it pass the centre, it would go back and forth a smaller amount each time and would settle in the direct centre.
2006-12-10 22:12:16 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, you can't drill a hole through the centre of the earth, because it is mostly liquid (a lot of it iron in fact). So no hole would remain. Even if you could, the pressures would be immense.
However, if you could, and then you dropped an object down the hole, it would oscillate according to simple harmonic motion. That is, the speed of the body is inversely proportional to it's distance from the centre. (In the same way that a child's swing swings back and forth). Eventually, friction with air etc would cause restitution to zero motion at the gravitational centre of the earth.
2006-12-11 00:01:05 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The deepest hole ever drilled was the Kola Borehole, drilled by the Russians. It was just over 7 1/2 miles deep. Heat and pressure became too much for the equipment at that depth. I think it was about 30 years ago. There was an article in Popular Science of a research drilling ship supposed to drill into the thinner ocean crust about 4 miles or so but I am not up to date on its progress.
2016-03-13 05:39:04 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ignoring the molten core of the earth, I think it'd go all the way through to the other side, reaching the exact same height from which it was dropped from, then return, the distance it comes back decreasing every time until it came to a halt in the exact centre. Kinda like a tennis ball bouncing on the ground until it stops.
2006-12-10 22:04:38 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Think of a pendulum.
The object would accelerate as it fell to the centre of the earth, and then slow down as it continued towards the other side. Just short of the surface, it would stop and fall back towards where it had come from, stopping further short. It would then go backwards and forwards, travelling slightly less each time until eventually it would come to rest in the centre of the earth.
2006-12-10 22:07:38 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have always wondered this, but my wonderment is always if I jump down the hole will I get stuck in the middle or fall through the other side.
If I were to fall right through, then surely I would be travelling upwards rather than down, once I had past the Earths core.
If I were to get stuck in the middle, could I then climb up the sides of the hole I had dug to get out, or would I be forever stuck because gravity couldn't make up its mind if I were falling upwards or downwards.
2006-12-10 22:06:37 · answer #7 · answered by Liggy Lee 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
presuming the object survives the extreme temperatures inside the earth- and no external force other than Earth's gravity- it will go back & forth endlessly from one side of the hole to the other in a perfect Simple Harmonic Motion.
2006-12-10 23:17:14 · answer #8 · answered by kapilbansalagra 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it would eventually...mmm...gravitate to the center of the Earth. It might shoot past the center, then spring back, and boing back and forth past the center for awhile, kind of like a guy doing a bungee jump, but eventually it would stop at the center, which is the earth's center of gravity. It think. Or more clearly put, "what Maverick said" (see below).
2006-12-10 22:04:19 · answer #9 · answered by Rusting 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, it cannot be done because even if you had a long enough drill, it would melt because it is too hot in the center.
2006-12-10 22:06:01 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋