I'm planning a trip to the "land down under", and my mom started making jokes about stuff falling out of my pocket (because I'll be on the bottom of the globe) and such. This led to a discussion about why people DON'T fall off the bottom of the earth. I Googled it and found several scientific explanations, but I would like someone to explain it to me in simple layman's terms.
Thanks in advance.
2007-11-09 09:57:19 · 13 answers · asked by Nicole 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Presumably you don't live at the North Pole, so why don't you slide off the side of the Earth? The answer is that the force of gravity is directed toward the center of the Earth, so pretty much wherever you are on the Earth's surface, the force of gravity is "down" (toward the ground).
I think some people get mixed up because they imagine placing an object on the bottom of a globe and it falls off. But the reason it falls is that it is attracted to the center of the real Earth (not the globe), which is invariably "down." Turn the globe upside down and things won't fall off its south pole, they'll fall off its north pole.
2007-11-09 10:05:42 · answer #1 · answered by Ketone 3 · 3⤊ 3⤋
The simple answer is gravity!
The earth has an enormous amount of gravity, and its pulling everything around it towards the center of the earth. No matter where you are around the earth, you're always pulled towards it.
The directions up and down dont really make sense when you think of the world as a whole. Down is always facing towards the center of the earth, up is always facing away from it.
This also works for the moon, if you're near the moon you're being pulled towards the center of it.
2007-11-09 10:10:08 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
You nor anything in Australia fall off the world because gravity pulls everything in towards the center of the earth. If you fall out of an airplane you fall towards the ground for that reason. People in Australia think that we are on the bottom of the earth and nothing has fallen off yet.
2007-11-09 10:06:44 · answer #3 · answered by s√(s-a)(s-b)(s-c) 3 · 3⤊ 2⤋
There would have to be something bigger than the earth at the south pole (like, say, Jupiter) for things to be pulled off the earth the way you were describing.
Think about it this way: when you throw something in the air, it gets pulled back down to Earth, right? Well, if someone were to "fall" off Australia, whatever was pulling them away from the Earth, that they were falling toward, would have to pull harder than the earth.
2007-11-09 10:09:28 · answer #4 · answered by Just Jess 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Simple. Gravity.
2007-11-09 09:59:47 · answer #5 · answered by <3 my nut brown maiden 1 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Gravity.
2007-11-09 09:59:53 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
people don't fall off the earth because there is gravity on earth and it pulls people towards it. like when a apple falls, it on the ground because gravity pulls it.same thing with you body the gravity pulls you to the earth ground.
2007-11-09 10:02:14 · answer #7 · answered by maria s 1 · 2⤊ 3⤋
things are pulled to the centre of the earth. not the bottom
2007-11-09 10:00:41 · answer #8 · answered by Jay 4 · 8⤊ 1⤋
You will have too much FUN to fall off. Have a GREAT time
2007-11-09 12:21:05 · answer #9 · answered by Babe 3 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Velcro.
2007-11-09 10:02:16 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 8⤊ 3⤋