• Question: If i dig a hole through the Earth (from one end to another), then if i jump through it, will i fall out the other side or what? Because when i jump in it i will be falling DOWN but how could i come out the other side falling DOWN.

    Asked by to Nick, Iain, Anna on 19 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Anna Middleton

      Anna Middleton answered on 19 Mar 2014:

      Hi vipm25xx
      that’s an amazing question and something that occurred to me too. Gravity would pull you into the centre of the earth so you’d be going down. Once you got to the centre of the earth (which you couldn’t do because you’d be melted anyway, but lets just say you could…) then you’d start going up to come out again. So, its not possible to go ‘down’ all the way through and out the other side because gravity pulls you into the centre.

    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 19 Mar 2014:

      Well, the earths core is molten, so your hole would collapse and you would burn to death. However, if you could make it so that the tunnel doesn’t collapse, then you would accelerate until you reach the center of the earth. By that point, though, you would be going really fast, and shoot past the center towards the opening on the other side. However, at this point you start decelerating, until eventually you stop and then start accelerating back the other way. You will keep going back and fourth a few times, until eventually friction makes you stop. You will stop at the center of the earth, where the force of gravity will be pulling you in all directions equally, and so these forces will all cancel out. So, eventually you will end up suspended weightless at the very center of the earth.

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