ahhhhh

but what if you wore a super dooper suite which was all like HELL YEAH IM HARDCORE AND I CAN TAKE ANYTHING THATS THROWN AT ME

Assuming the liquid magma and core problems were overcome? You would still be crushed by the earth's gravity at the centre of the earth.

Assuming the liquid magma and core problems were overcome? You would still be crushed by the earth's gravity at the centre of the earth.

fuck me!

If you dropped a bowling ball down into the hole it would fall straight through the earth, slow down at the same height you dropped it (but on the other side of the planet), fall back and do this forever.

the gravity is essentially zero at the centre of the earth - you'd be pulled away from the centre in all directions, resulting in a net force of zero (since all the force cancels out).

Yeah, you're right.

In part.

Now I think on it, the gravitational pull tugging you apart would be many times greater than the gravitational pull you experience on the surface, since you're surrounded in all possible directions by mass as opposed to when you're on the surface, where you have about 1 out of 6 general directions in which mass is present.

So you'd be killed by the forces ripping you apart.

Good first guess. At least, I THINK good first guess, but I wasn't able to find a reference for what I'm about to tell you, so please take it with a grain of salt (I guess I'm "normal," because my memory gets shorter as my lifespan get longer).

Imagine a hollow tube, or straw, that is "stuck" completely through the Earth (through the center of gravity), so that both ends are open, and both ends are at the surface (on opposite sides of the Earth). The tube is a bit larger than a baseball.

Now, imagine dropping a baseball down one end of the tube. Gravity will certainly make the baseball fall down the tube (ever dropped a rock down a well?)...but how far?

Actually, in the absence of air friction or friction of the walls of the tube, the baseball will "fall" all the way through the Earth and just to the surface on the other side, before it begins to 'fall' back to the point of origin. With some small amount of friction, the ball will oscillate with decreasing magnitude until it finally stops (hanging motionless) at the center of gravity (presumably the center of the Earth). The baseball acts just as your body would, if the tube (tunnel?) was big enough for you to crawl into.

This is because gravity is greatest at (or near) the SURFACE of the Earth. As you approach the center of the Earth from the surface, mass "behind" you acts to pull you away from the center.

This explanation ignores the rotation of the Earth. If the tube wasn't stuck directly through the (rotational) poles, the ball would tend to roll down (up?) one edge of the tube.

Good thought experiment. Ron

Yeah, you're right.

In part.

Now I think on it, the gravitational pull tugging you apart would be many times greater than the gravitational pull you experience on the surface, since you're surrounded in all possible directions by mass as opposed to when you're on the surface, where you have about 1 out of 6 general directions in which mass is present.

So you'd be killed by the forces ripping you apart.

dammit, this time I was too slow

3) Why are there only 6 general directions? There are an infinite number of directions. Natural forces do not discriminate based on human normative conceptions.

If you dropped a bowling ball down into the hole it would fall straight through the earth, slow down at the same height you dropped it (but on the other side of the planet), fall back and do this forever....providing there's a vacuum.

*sigh* this was a simplification relative to the 'norm', which sees the earths mass present on only one side of an imaginary cube around a person.

Purely for illustrative purposes.

Your needless use of complex terminoligy I find to be so utterly juvenile that this discussion ceases to be entertaining.

For that reason, I'm not even tackling the rest.

That's a respectful way to leave a discussion without having to admit you didn't know what you were talking about.

I've got a question about the oscillation thing...

Since we're talking about the earth, and the laws of friction apply, wouldn't terminal velocity prevent the ball from returning almost all the way to the opposite side of the planet? That is to say, the speed that the ball is traveling when it passes the center of the earth can't possibly be enough to make it all the way back to the surface on the other side. Right?
So won't the oscillation be uneven? Wouldn't it only travel a short distance past the core before turning around again?

Your needless use of complex terminoligy I find to be so utterly juvenile that this discussion ceases to be entertaining.

For that reason, I'm not even tackling the rest.

heh i've seen this behaviour from you in the past

gg

-btw, if you don't understand what I'm talking about, then you could ask for clarification, or give me some constructive criticism about the way in which I'm communicating myself.

terminal velocity is a function of friction/air resistance. If, as has been qualified in the discussion so far, there is a vacuum, there is no terminal velocity.

Yes, and that's also a reason why I'd normally shy off posting what I did, despite it being my actual real opinion, and you being a jaded fuck who could probably function just as well with less useless sniping.

Again, not that this won't be seen as something you'll 'read' more into, like you're managing to somehow get one over on me by 'telling me what I'm saying'.

I probably need to finish this off with a ;dork; icon, right?