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 were at the center of a hollow cylinder, you would indeed be pulled apart. This is because the force from a hollow cylinder is only zero at the exact center. Anywhere away from the center is pulled toward the cylinder wall, with a stronger pull the farther it is from the center.

A hollow sphere is special because the forces exactly cancel out everywhere on the inside, not just at the center.