Center of the Earth

[flameofanor5]

Okay, I know that this is totally impossible. But, if somehow, there was no fire, lava, etc. in the middle of the earth, and we were in the exact center; in what direction would we be pulled? That is, if this were somehow possible.

 

[shichimenshyo]

Any direction you want

 

[D H]

Okay, I know that this is totally impossible. But, if somehow, there was no fire, lava, etc. in the middle of the earth, and we were in the exact center; in what direction would we be pulled?

Toward the Sun (and Moon to a much lesser extent). The Earth would not exert any force. Generalizing on your OP: Suppose the Earth were a hollow sphere. There would be no gravitational acceleration caused by the Earth, or at any other point in the hollow interior. You would, however, still be attracted toward objects outside the Earth, such as the Sun and Moon. The Earth would not shield you from the Sun's gravity.

 

[zarlok]

You'd be tugged back and forth(more likely viibrate), assuming your body had space to move, between a nigh infinite number of extraterrestial gravitational fields and the earth's own.

 

[Fraggle Rocker]

You'd be tugged back and forth (more likely viibrate), assuming your body had space to move, between a nigh infinite number of extraterrestial gravitational fields and the earth's own.

"Vibrate" conjures up an image of shuddering. It would be more like an extremely slow oscillation. IIRC the sun and the moon exert roughly equal gravitational force on the earth, so the 28-day cycle of the moon's orbit would probably be the strongest influence on you.

 

[zarlok]

"Vibrate" conjures up an image of shuddering. It would be more like an extremely slow oscillation. IIRC the sun and the moon exert roughly equal gravitational force on the earth, so the 28-day cycle of the moon's orbit would probably be the strongest influence on you.

Nah. The important equations here are good old F= MA and F= [mMG]/r^2. "r' is the distance the object is from the exact center of the gravitational body. What happpens to the force(F) in the second equation as the distance approaches zero? There will be nothing slow about it. Probably turn you into a wad of vibrating goo after a while. Not that a human could retain consciousness long enough to really experience any of this stuff of being crushed into goo.

 

[swivel]

Toward the Sun (and Moon to a much lesser extent). The Earth would not exert any force. Generalizing on your OP: Suppose the Earth were a hollow sphere. There would be no gravitational acceleration caused by the Earth, or at any other point in the hollow interior. You would, however, still be attracted toward objects outside the Earth, such as the Sun and Moon. The Earth would not shield you from the Sun's gravity.

There would be a force imparted by the sun, but being at the "center" of the Earth implies that you would be moving at the same speed as the Earth, so you wouldn't be pulled "to" the Sun. You would be orbiting it.

An interesting case would be a tube that went right through the center of the Earth, and came out both sides. If you could seal this tube, and pump out all of the air, you could jump in one side, and grab a rung in the tube on the other side near the opposing surface.

My guess is that people would pay for this thrill. But I think they would need to pack a few meals, and plenty of water for the ride.

 

[zarlok]

Toward the Sun (and Moon to a much lesser extent). The Earth would not exert any force. Generalizing on your OP: Suppose the Earth were a hollow sphere. There would be no gravitational acceleration caused by the Earth, or at any other point in the hollow interior. You would, however, still be attracted toward objects outside the Earth, such as the Sun and Moon. The Earth would not shield you from the Sun's gravity.

As it turns out, this is closer to truth than what I suggested. After looking at newtons work on gravity inside a body, it tends to bear this out.

 

[D H]

There would be a force imparted by the sun, but being at the "center" of the Earth implies that you would be moving at the same speed as the Earth, so you wouldn't be pulled "to" the Sun. You would be orbiting it.

To orbit something you need to be pulled toward the thing you are orbiting. The Earth orbits around the Sun because it is always accelerating toward the Sun.

An interesting case would be a tube that went right through the center of the Earth, and came out both sides. If you could seal this tube, and pump out all of the air, you could jump in one side, and grab a rung in the tube on the other side near the opposing surface.

My guess is that people would pay for this thrill. But I think they would need to pack a few meals, and plenty of water for the ride.

No need for food, or even water. The one-way trip would only take 45 minutes.

 

[Creeping Death]

The earth is hollow, the germans knew about and this is still the world's biggest secret!

 

[Dywyddyr]

The earth is hollow, the germans knew about and this is still the world's biggest secret!

So secret in fact that this information is only available on a million and one woo woo sites all over the internet (and a nearly equal number of crackpot books).
Way to drag a thread into Pseudoscience...

 

[fellowtraveler]

Okay, I know that this is totally impossible. But, if somehow, there was no fire, lava, etc. in the middle of the earth, and we were in the exact center; in what direction would we be pulled? That is, if this were somehow possible.

REPLY: It is an interesting question. Because mass causes gravity you would be pulled in all directions as others have stated. I would imagine as you approached the center you would become more and more weightless, the surrounding mass pulling on you from all directions with equal force. Something like that. ...traveler

 

[Blindman]

The hollow tube through the Earth would only work from pole to pole.
If you start at the equator you would have some tangential velocity and there for the tube would have to be a segment of an ellipse. You would not be able to get to the center and you would not pop up on the opposite side of the earth. I attempted once to do the math but gave up after a few nights. Maybe Ill try again some time when I have time..

To orbit something you need to be pulled toward the thing you are orbiting. The Earth orbits around the Sun because it is always accelerating toward the Sun

An object in free fall (orbit) feels no pulling force. You are accelerating but there is no way to detect it. The only force you can detect is tidal, you would ever so slightly be stretched to and away from the sun, moon and what ever else.

 

[James R]