Fact of the day : The deepest hole ever drilled by man ...

[Chrisja1000]

Fuck me, you'd be gutted dropping your car keys down there , do you think there is a giant hamster in the core , just running around his wheel and that keeps the earth spinning?

 

[bakerdave76]

sorry though you said shithole!

 

[JamesMCFC]

Isn't that the hole they put a microphone down and recorded "Hell"?

 

[1.618034]

Apparently if there was a hole straight through it would take 42 minutes to emerge on the other side... And you'd arrive having decelerated to zero, so you could just hop out. (QI)



Also.

If we compared the earth to an apple, then even the deepest hole drilled by mankind still wouldn't have pierced the skin. (Bill Bryson)

 

[kennycar]

Apparently if there was a hole straight through it would take 42 minutes to emerge on the other side... And you'd arrive having decelerated to zero, so you could just hop out. (QI)

Dubious. I doubt air resistance was taken into account.

 

[ciderjohn1]

obviously you have never been to burnley.

 

[BulgarianPride]

I've often wondered if there was a hole that went right through the earth and you jumped in it would you slow down as you got to the centre and would gravity hold you in the centre when you got there?

I believe we had a whole thread about this a year or so ago. .

In theory, the hole needs to be drilled at the earth's axis of rotation, otherwise you would hit the wall of the hole as the earth rotates while you are falling. So lets assume the hole is drilled at the axis of rotation, as you fall you gain kinetic energy ( you gain velocity, acceleration also increases as you near the center). At the center, in theory, there should be zero gravity , however you have a lot of kinetic energy that forces you to fall upward ( the other side ). You've passed the center but you keep on falling towards the sky. Now gravity wants you to fall towards the center, but your kinetic energy overpowers gravity and you fall upwards, towards the sky. Because gravity is acting in the opposite direction of the "fall" it converts your kinetic energy into potential energy and you slowly slow down. You will reach a maximum point above the ground (on the other side ) where all the kinetic energy is converted into potential energy and the process begins again. Now if there is no air resistance, and the earths gravity is constant, and you jump from very high up, this constant falling down, and falling up will last for ever. However because there is air, and other factors you would eventually get stuck in the center, assuming it has zero gravity there.

Hope that answers everything...

Eventually the elevator should stop at the center.

-- Fri Jun 24, 2011 10:42 am --

Apparently if there was a hole straight through it would take 42 minutes to emerge on the other side... And you'd arrive having decelerated to zero, so you could just hop out. (QI)

Dubious. I doubt air resistance was taken into account.

Doesn't matter. Air resistance or not the velocity on the other side will be zero. When you throw a rock straight up to the sky, before it starts falling it reaches a velocity of 0.

 

[bernabias home shirt]

I've often wondered if there was a hole that went right through the earth and you jumped in it would you slow down as you got to the centre and would gravity hold you in the centre when you got there?

I believe we had a whole thread about this a year or so ago. .

In theory, the hole needs to be drilled at the earth's axis of rotation, otherwise you would hit the wall of the hole as the earth rotates while you are falling. So lets assume the hole is drilled at the axis of rotation, as you fall you gain kinetic energy ( you gain velocity, acceleration also increases as you near the center). At the center, in theory, there should be zero gravity , however you have a lot of kinetic energy that forces you to fall upward ( the other side ). You've passed the center but you keep on falling towards the sky. Now gravity wants you to fall towards the center, but your kinetic energy overpowers gravity and you fall upwards, towards the sky. Because gravity is acting in the opposite direction of the "fall" it converts your kinetic energy into potential energy and you slowly slow down. You will reach a maximum point above the ground (on the other side ) where all the kinetic energy is converted into potential energy and the process begins again. Now if there is no air resistance, and the earths gravity is constant, and you jump from very high up, this constant falling down, and falling up will last for ever. However because there is air, and other factors you would eventually get stuck in the center, assuming it has zero gravity there.

Hope that answers everything...

So what your saying is if there was a hole right through the earth and you jumped in you would never reach the other side?

 

[BulgarianPride]

I've often wondered if there was a hole that went right through the earth and you jumped in it would you slow down as you got to the centre and would gravity hold you in the centre when you got there?

I believe we had a whole thread about this a year or so ago. .

In theory, the hole needs to be drilled at the earth's axis of rotation, otherwise you would hit the wall of the hole as the earth rotates while you are falling. So lets assume the hole is drilled at the axis of rotation, as you fall you gain kinetic energy ( you gain velocity, acceleration also increases as you near the center). At the center, in theory, there should be zero gravity , however you have a lot of kinetic energy that forces you to fall upward ( the other side ). You've passed the center but you keep on falling towards the sky. Now gravity wants you to fall towards the center, but your kinetic energy overpowers gravity and you fall upwards, towards the sky. Because gravity is acting in the opposite direction of the "fall" it converts your kinetic energy into potential energy and you slowly slow down. You will reach a maximum point above the ground (on the other side ) where all the kinetic energy is converted into potential energy and the process begins again. Now if there is no air resistance, and the earths gravity is constant, and you jump from very high up, this constant falling down, and falling up will last for ever. However because there is air, and other factors you would eventually get stuck in the center, assuming it has zero gravity there.

Hope that answers everything...

So what your saying is if there was a hole right through the earth and you jumped in you would never reach the other side?

No, you reach the other side, and you fall back down. You would do this for some time before you settle at the center.

 

[bernabias home shirt]

I believe we had a whole thread about this a year or so ago. .

In theory, the hole needs to be drilled at the earth's axis of rotation, otherwise you would hit the wall of the hole as the earth rotates while you are falling. So lets assume the hole is drilled at the axis of rotation, as you fall you gain kinetic energy ( you gain velocity, acceleration also increases as you near the center). At the center, in theory, there should be zero gravity , however you have a lot of kinetic energy that forces you to fall upward ( the other side ). You've passed the center but you keep on falling towards the sky. Now gravity wants you to fall towards the center, but your kinetic energy overpowers gravity and you fall upwards, towards the sky. Because gravity is acting in the opposite direction of the "fall" it converts your kinetic energy into potential energy and you slowly slow down. You will reach a maximum point above the ground (on the other side ) where all the kinetic energy is converted into potential energy and the process begins again. Now if there is no air resistance, and the earths gravity is constant, and you jump from very high up, this constant falling down, and falling up will last for ever. However because there is air, and other factors you would eventually get stuck in the center, assuming it has zero gravity there.

Hope that answers everything...

So what your saying is if there was a hole right through the earth and you jumped in you would never reach the other side?

No, you reach the other side, and you fall back down.

And is the 42 mins timespan about right?