Lets say the Earth is hollow and you are in the center of it (Same mass except all of it is on the outside like a beach ball) If you move slightly to one side now your distance is closer to that side therefore a stronger gravitational force however at the same time you have more mass now on the other side. At what rate would you fall? Which direction?
Also, is there a scenario where depending on the radius of the sphere you would fall the other direction or towards the empty center?
Answer
If the mass/charge is symmetrically distributed on your sphere, there is no force acting on you, anywhere within the sphere. This is because every force originating from some part of the sphere will be canceled by another part.
Like you said, if you move towards on side, the gravitational pull of that side will become stronger, but then there will also be "more" mass that is pulling you in the other direction. These two components cancel each other exactly.
No comments:
Post a Comment