Jumping into a earthcenter tunnel

  • Thread starter Thread starter schiz0ai
  • Start date Start date
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
4 replies · 2K views
schiz0ai
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
What if you would be able to jump into a hole in the ground that went straight trough the middle of the earth.
And what IF
The tunnel stays intact,
You don't fry to death,
You don't suffocate,
You don't hit the walls,
etc

Would you yoyo? Would you be compressed badly? Would you be torn apart?
im curious :biggrin:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Astronomy news on Phys.org
The strength of gravity increases as you approach the core - it's denser than the mantle and crust right? However there is a stage where the gravity will start decreasing to zero at the center. You can actually work it out using the structure of the interior of the Earth as a guide:
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/nov99/943288749.Es.r.html
... some notes.

Humans are quite small on the scale of the Earth so I don't expect the difference in field between your head and your feet to be strong enough to rip you apart.

See also: http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/multimedia/2008/08/gallery_kola_borehole/
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You would simply move up and down past the core until friction from the air in the tunnel caused you to settle at the center of the Earth. No tearing apart or anything like that.
 
Thanks for the replies, i really appreciate it.
 
Negating friction, and assuming Earth was a perfect sphere, you would gently pop right out the hole on the other side. Just be sure to get a foothold before you started back down!