Is gravitational force at the centre of, say, the Earth zero? This would make sense as equal amounts of mass surrounding the centre would 'pull' equally. I believe that there is immense heat and pressure at the centre of stars and planets though. If gravity is zero, what causes these pressures to come about?
PurplePacifier
Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 11:19 am
Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 4
Yes, the gravitational force at the center is zero. However, every particle surrounding the center will tend to reach that center.
So imagine, every particle in Earth being drawn to that center. That's a lot of pressure. So if you were that lucky particle to reach the center, you wouldn't feel the gravitational pull of the Earth, but you would be able to feel all the other millions of particles trying to get to your spot.
Jerry
Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 3:42 pm
Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 9 Location: Australia
Thanks PP. It's counter intuitive but I think I see what you mean.
