A Weighty Issue

4 October 06.

This is Science!.

Considering all I’ve given to the Internet over the years I think it’s about time you gave something back, don’t you agree? See if you can answer this question for me.

At the very centre of this planet there is a man inside a hollow sphere made of an imaginary material that can withstand all the pressure and heat down there. There is some air inside the sphere, I guess.

The question is: What kind of gravitational force is this man experiencing? Is he floating? Is he crushed? The imaginary material is strong enough to withstand the pressure. Which way does he fall?

Is this a stupid question? If so, why?

Comments

  1. Dude I am just wondering what the hell the guy does to keep from dying of boredom. And what does he eat? And how the hell did he get there? Maybe the sphere is the earth’s womb and in nine months Mt St Helens will pop out a fully-grown giant earth guy.

    — Jg  Oct 4, 03:58 PM  #

  2. Serious questions all, but not really addressing the crux of this scientific query I’m afraid Jason…

    — Pierce  Oct 4, 04:08 PM  #

  3. Stupid question? No. But it has a bit of the “what if Superman…” feeling to it because it first posits impossible conditions, then asks what current scientific theories say would happen under those impossible conditions.

    Nonetheless, an attempt: If he’s magically uncrush’d, he’s floating; there’s nowhere to fall with the literal weight of the world atop him. His body would be suspended in a bubble of liquified air, like a man swimming inside a scuba tank. It would be hot: 7000C, about the same temperature as the surface of the sun. Also, radioactive. The ball would be spinning, but much more slowly than the surface does.

    — Jack Rusher  Oct 4, 04:20 PM  #

  4. There be dragons in the bubble.

    But apart from the dragons, the force of gravity would be zero in the middle – you can actually download a program that’s modelled this here:
    http://w-uh.com/posts/041023a-journey_through_t.html

    And if his magic bubble is protecting him from heat and pressure then it would also be protecting his air. If he’s not protected then liquified air means liquified man. Or crushed or whatever. But has he thought about the fact that his air is going to run out sometime? This could turn out to be the least of his worries, given the circumstances. Maybe you could introduce him to swamp man, as two imaginary and unrealistic constructs I think they might get on very well.

    — damh  Oct 4, 05:42 PM  #

  5. Ok, that hole through the Earth models it perfectly. Someone has already asked every question. Essentially I thought he’d be floating. But the huge gaps in my understanding of physics made me think I was probably missing something to do with atmospheric pressure or something.

    Thank god your work in NASA is finally coming to some use damh. If the air is liquified, the man is liquified. If the sphere withstands the pressure, the air wont be liquified.

    There would be a lot of radiation though. Maybe that would account for swamp man.

    That falling through the earth thing reminds me of science fiction movies where a ship flies through the hollow centre of a big asteroid.

    — Pierce  Oct 5, 11:55 AM  #

  6. Here’s more on hollow Earth hypotheses:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollow_Earth

    There’s also another idea you might find entertaining which explains how the continents fit together with the notion of an expanding Earth. This from the Australians. Walking around on their heads was obviously affecting their judgement.

    — damh  Oct 5, 06:55 PM  #

  7. I think all the scientists in the room can agree, though, that he would shit magma, and that said magma would be twice as deadly as regular magma, due to the combination of extreme heat and bad smell.

    — Feaverish  Oct 5, 10:50 PM  #

  8. I have no scientific data or a brain that has rested about 6 hours in the 4 days, but let’s go with:

    Not really floating, but kind of hovering a little with head facing Madagascar. I wonder if you’d rig the Core Ball to get Wifi or good Thai food delivery? If so, I’m in… I’ll try it out. Bean bag chair? Aquarium? I’d like that.

    — stb  Oct 6, 12:10 AM  #

  9. I may have had something to do with said physics gaps. We did sit beside each other in Spud’s (god rest his soul) physics class didn’t we? And as for Adam and that orange man behind us, you were doomed to fail. Its a miracle this website evens runs…

    — Finn  Oct 9, 11:08 PM  #

  10. forigive me for asking you finn, but your message implies that one “spud” has passed away?...”god rest his soul”...?? i certainly havent heard any sad news like that: perhaps you mean that by leaving a certain school one loses one’s soul (hasnt he just left; not died!)?, im confused; has he travelled to the Earth’s core to get Thai food?...could someone shed some happy light on this issue…

    — eamon  Oct 11, 01:16 PM  #

  11. Yeah, he was still alive last year. Fill us in. I’d say we would have heard.

    Also, I sat beside beano, off to the side. Dunno who you sat beside. This is not something I ever imagined I’d be talking about here.

    — Pierce  Oct 11, 01:37 PM  #

  12. Oh shit, I'm caught! OK, so maybe he's not dead. But he's dead inside. Sorry Spud. It just felt appropriate to say that. Ehm, did you not sit beside me? Oh. Did i sit beside Adam? I can't remember.
    Eamon! Hi! Ehm, sorry I'm not able to shed any happy light on things but just to see your post lit up my heart. Say hello to El for me. I bet you it's really irritating Pierce that we are using his comments forum to communicate. He doesn't like the way my poor spelling brings down the tone of Distorte. He's probably going to delete this post. He is so controlling.

    — Finn  Oct 13, 05:46 PM  #

  13. There were literally five to six spelling or grammatical errors on each line there Finn. It took me some time, but they’re fixed. Don’t mention it.

    — Pierce  Oct 14, 12:56 AM  #

  14. Thanks Pierce. I tried realy hard to get it right. oh well.

    — Finn  Nov 1, 02:16 PM  #