Question

Assume a hole is drilled through the center of the Earth. It can be shown that an object of mass m at a distance from the center of the Earth is pulled toward the center only by the material in the shaded portion of the figure below. Assume Earth has a uniform density ?. Write down Newton's law of gravitation for an object at a distance r from the center of the Earth and show that the force on it is of the form of Hooke's law,

F = ?kr. In terms of g= 9.8 m/s^2 and the radius of the earth R=6.3781x10^6m, what is k? Compute the time it takes for an object to fall through the entire tunnel if all other forces are negligible.

Homework Answers

Answer #1

the mass of the object = m

distance from the midpoint of earth = r

Density of earth = d

Volume of the encompassed region of earth = 4/3 r3

M/V = d

M = d*V = d* 4/3 r3

Gravitational force acting on the object F = GMm / r2

F = - G* Md * 4/3 r3 / r2 = GMd(4/3) r ( -ve sign because force is directed to the midpoint )

Hook's Law :

F = -kx

Hence, k = GMd(4/3)

It's SHM inside the tunnel.

angular velocity = sq rt GM/R

T = time period = 2 / = 2 R / GM

Know the answer?
Your Answer:

Post as a guest

Your Name:

What's your source?

Earn Coins

Coins can be redeemed for fabulous gifts.

Not the answer you're looking for?
Ask your own homework help question
Similar Questions
A hole is drilled through the center of Earth. The gravitational force exerted by Earth on...
A hole is drilled through the center of Earth. The gravitational force exerted by Earth on an object of mass m as it goes through the hole is mg(r/R),where r is the distance of the object from Earth's center and R is the radius of Earth (6.4×106m). A. Would this be a comfortable ride?     a)Going through the hole would be an uncomfortable ride because of the extreme temperature in the interior of Earth. b)Going through the hole would be...
Let’s drill a straight tunnel through the earth. It turns out that if an object of...
Let’s drill a straight tunnel through the earth. It turns out that if an object of mass m is in the tunnel, a distance x from the center of the tunnel, then the gravitational and normal forces wild combine to exert a force on it of mgx/R toward the center of the tunnel – just as if the object were connected to the center of the tunnel by a spring. (Here g is the usual 9.8 m/s2 and R is...
Imagine that one drilled a very small hole with smooth sides straight through the center of...
Imagine that one drilled a very small hole with smooth sides straight through the center of a charged sphere with total charge Q, radius R and uniform charge density p. A charge −? with mass ? is dropped into one end. Ignore effects from friction and gravity. a. (10 points) The Coulomb force on an object of charge −? located inside the sphere a distance ? < ? from the center is due only to the charge that lies within...
Assume the earth is a uniform sphere of mass M and radius R. As strange as...
Assume the earth is a uniform sphere of mass M and radius R. As strange as it may sound, if one can dig a long tunnel from one side of the Earth straight through the center and exit the other end, any object falling into the tunnel will appear at the other end (i.e. the opposite side of the Earth) in just 2530 s (42.2 min). Call that time t. Let t be a function of G, M, and R,...
12. A m = 71.2 kg object is released from rest at a distance h =...
12. A m = 71.2 kg object is released from rest at a distance h = 0.713515 R above the Earth’s surface. The acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s 2 . For the Earth, RE = 6.38 × 106 m, M = 5.98 × 1024 kg. The gravitational acceleration at the surface of the earth is g = 9.8 m/s 2 . Find the speed of the object when it strikes the Earth’s surface. Neglect any atmospheric friction. Caution: You...
Consider a satellite of mass m in a circular orbit of radius r around the Earth...
Consider a satellite of mass m in a circular orbit of radius r around the Earth of mass ME and radius RE. 1. What is the gravitational force (magnitude and direction) on the satellite from Earth? 2. If we define g(r) to be the force of gravity on a mass m at a radial distance r from the center of the Earth, divided by the mass m, then evaluate the ratio g(r)/g(RE)to see how g varies with radial distance. If...
ADVERTISEMENT
Need Online Homework Help?

Get Answers For Free
Most questions answered within 1 hours.

Ask a Question
ADVERTISEMENT