Gravity and all that jazz, thiis question will make u think?

Question

lets pretend that instead of lava in the centerof the earth its just dirt.

if i where to dig a hole from america to china and fellthrough the hole one day, after i finished digging it how would i land in china

Answer 1

No, it won't make me think, this question appears here several times a week.

No air, no rotation of the earth, no heat, and yes, if you fell in the hole, you would pop out the other side. But not really pop out, you would slow down as you approached the surface and stop just at the surface. Then you would repeat the process in the opposite direction, and continue to oscillate back and forth forever, just like a satellite.

If there is air, your speed would cause friction, and at the center, you would be moving fast enough to burn up.

Side question: if there is air, what is the density of the air at the center of the earth, neglecting heat? Remember that gravity is zero at the center.

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Answer 2

ha, I see what you mean, head or bottom first right?

Answer 3

first off, its landing in Argentina,ot china and you will stop t mid way down and climb up.

Answer 4

You wouldn't quite get there.

You'd start falling towards the center of the earth, and when you reached and passed through the very center, you'd stop falling faster and start falling slower.

Unfortunately, there was probably some air resistance on the trip though the hole, and so you won't quite have the speed needed to pop up through the hole once you reach China (maybe you can make a really good grab).

You'll start falling again towards the center, at an increasing speed at first, and then, again, as you pass through the center, you'll start slowing.

This will continue, and with each pass, you'll stop rising and start falling further and further from the surface, until eventually you'd just be stuck at the center of the earth.

Incidentally, once you'd settled there, you wouldn't feel any gravity. If you tried to climb out, you'd find it very easy at first, but increasingly difficult as you neared the surface.

Good question, hope that helped ya!