If you imagine yourself at the center of the earth your are floating since the pull is the same around you. But let us say you could turn up the gravity as much as you want. Why aren’t you pulled apart? The net forces are zero, sure. But wouldn’t the body experience tension?

Question

If we compare it to a rope pulled by two equal forces in each end. The net forces would be zero and you would have static equilibrium, but the rope would still break if pulled hard enough.

Additionally, wouldn’t a metal ball uniformly surrounded by powerful magnets be pulled apart as well?

I am not sure why I can’t wrap my head around this, when it comes to the center of the earth.

In: 83

Answer 1

If you are in the center of a hollow sphere, the gravitational force will pull you towards the center, not out towards the shell. So if you turned up the mass of the shell, it would crush you instead.

Just think of what it would mean if there was a pull outwards. It would be impossible to even stay in the center because the smallest change in position would increase the force pulling you away from the center, which further accelerates you away from the center.