Harden Elkington
It’s a question that has troubled people for centuries: what would happen if you fell through the Earth? The answer, as it turns out, is quite complicated.
First of all, it’s important to understand that the Earth is not actually a solid object. It’s made up of several different layers, each with its own chemical and physical properties.
Earth layers
If you fell through the Earth, you would likely find yourself passing through one or more of these layers:
- The crust.
The crust is the outermost layer of the earth and averages 5-50 km (3-30 miles) deep. This is the only part of the planet that we’ve actually set foot on, and it’s made up of solid rock. - The mantle.
The mantle is the layer below the crust and makes up most of the Earth’s mass. It’s made up of hot, melted rocks that are in a constant state of flux. - The outer core.
The outer core is a layer of liquid metal that surrounds the inner core. It’s made up of iron and nickel that have melted under the intense heat and pressure at the Earth’s center. - The inner core.
The inner core is a massive solid sphere, averaging about 3,200 km (2,000 miles) in diameter. It’s probably made mostly of iron, with some nickel mixed in.
Despite being thousands of degrees hot, the pressure at this layer is so great that it remains solid.
Is it possible to fall through the earth?
It’s difficult to say what would happen if any given person fell through the earth because there are many factors at play.
If you fell from a significant height, it’s likely that you’d be killed upon impact with the Earth’s surface.
If you were able to fall slowly enough for your body to transition gradually into the mantle layer, you’d experience extreme temperatures and pressure.
In the outer core, your body would be subjected to very high temperatures (6000 Kelvin) and high pressure (2 million atmospheres).
If you were able to make it through that layer, you’d reach the inner core where the temperature is a blistering 5000 Kelvin and the pressure is 3.5 million atmospheres.
At that point, you would die from pressure asphyxiation and your body would be squeezed into a tiny ball by gravity before returning to the surface of the earth through volcanoes, hot springs and other geothermal phenomena.
There is little chance of this happening, however, it is estimated that you’d have to fall at around 0.1 mm/s in order to make it through the layers of the Earth.
What happens if you dig straight down on the earth?
If you were to dig straight down into the Earth, you would eventually reach the mantle layer. The temperature and pressure at this layer are so great that it’s impossible for anything to survive.
Your shovel would also melt as you dug further down because the mantle is made up of hot rocks that are in a constant state of flux. In fact, the pressure at this point would be so high that it would crush you into an unrecognizable blob.
If you dug down past the mantle layer, you’d reach the core of the Earth. This is likely made up of a solid sphere of iron and nickel (with some other elements mixed in). It’s unlikely that anything could survive making contact with it.
It is important to remember that there are still many things about the Earth’s interior that we do not understand, so it’s difficult to say with certainty what would happen if you made your way through it.
Although this question has intrigued humanity for hundreds of years, science currently has no definitive answer for what would happen if you fell through Earth’s layers.
While it’s unlikely that you would survive a trip through the Earth, there are still many things about the planet that we do not understand. It is possible that new research on our planet may give us new insight into this fascinating question in the future.
- See also: What would happen if the earth stops spinning
- See also: What would the world be like If the earth had two moons
What would happen if we reached the earth’s core?
If you were to reach the Earth’s core, you would be subjected to a massive amount of pressure and heat. The temperature in the inner core is around 5,000 Kelvin, while the pressure is 3.5 million atmospheres.
At that point, you would die from pressure asphyxiation and your body would be squeezed into a tiny ball by gravity before returning to the surface of the earth through volcanoes, hot springs and other geothermal phenomena.
It is estimated that you’d have to fall at around 0.1 mm/s in order to make it through the layers of the Earth, so it is unlikely that this would ever happen.
As if attempting to reach the Earth’s core isn’t difficult enough, the chances of you dying or being severely injured along the way are extremely high.
Even if you were to make it through the layers safely, your body would be crushed during re-entry into the planet.
Science currently has no definitive answer for what would happen if you reached the core of the Earth, but it is a question that has intrigued humanity for hundreds of years.
While it is possible that new research on our planet may give us new insight into this fascinating question in the future, there is little chance of anyone actually reaching the Earth’s core.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is highly unlikely that anyone would ever be able to reach the Earth’s core.
The temperature and pressure at that point are so great that it would be impossible for anything to survive. Even if you were to make it through the layers safely, your body would be crushed during re-entry into the planet.
Science currently has no definitive answer for what would happen if you reached the core of the Earth, but it is a question that has intrigued humanity for hundreds of years.
While it is possible that new research on our planet may give us new insight into this fascinating question in the future, there is little chance of anyone actually reaching the Earth’s core.
It is important to remember that there are still many things about the Earth’s interior that we do not understand, so it’s difficult to say with certainty what would happen if you made your way through it.
Although this question has intrigued humanity for hundreds of years, science currently has no definitive answer for what would happen if you fell through Earth’s layers.
While it’s unlikely that you would survive a trip through the Earth, there are still many things about the planet that we do not understand.
It is possible that new research on our planet may give us new insight into this fascinating question in the future.
