101
Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Is gravity stronger or weaker at the bottom of a mine shaft?
« on: 22/08/2012 23:52:28 »
yes, weaker, less force the deeper you go into the Earth (or any solid body). Gravity increases linearly with the distance from the center (r) inside a solid body and decreases by r squared when outside. You would be weightless when dead center and r=0.
At least according to theory, not sure what experiments have been done. Earth radius is about 6370km, a quick search gave TauTona mine as one of the deepest at 3.9km, a fractional decrease of only 0.9994! My bathroom scale won't look any better.
At least according to theory, not sure what experiments have been done. Earth radius is about 6370km, a quick search gave TauTona mine as one of the deepest at 3.9km, a fractional decrease of only 0.9994! My bathroom scale won't look any better.