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Gravity is zero at the center

Posted by: Nikhil Jaikumar ( PCC, MA, USA ) on April 29, 1999 at 10:17:07:

In Reply to: And another one posted by Shaun on April 28, 1999 at 07:03:41:

Equally simply:

Gravitational force on a fixed object( e.g. you) varies as the mass of the attracting object, divided by the square of the distance. The mass of the earth, in turmn, varies (approximately) as the cube of the distance to teh earth's center, assuming constant density. So the gravitational force is proportional to r cubed ovre r sqaured, or in other words to r. So the gravitational force of teh earth is greatest at teh earth's surface, and declines linearly as you approach teh ceter. It is zero at the center. This is logically necessary; if teh gravitational force was infinite at the center, you wouldn't just stop tehre, you would be squashed to a point.


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