Would gravity change as you get closer to Earth’s center?

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Would gravity change as you get closer to Earth’s center?

In: Physics

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Just to add some extra detail for explainlikeim17, the [shell theorem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_theorem) proven by the man Newton himself states that a shell of a sphere of any size and thickness will have no gravity on the inside. So if you stand inside of a huge inflated basketball, you will feel no gravity from ut. The proof is calculus, but you can also imagine it as a version of two inverse-squares equalling each other, which is how Newton proved it.

Now, if you imagine the earth as a bunch of concentric shells (like a jaw breaker with different flavors), it is clear that gravity goes down as you tunnel through the center of the earth/shells.

There is a second part of the theorem that deals with outside of the gravity from outside of a shell or sphere, which is the intuitive gravity that you understand from planets.

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