UCSB Science Line
Sponge Spicules Nerve Cells Galaxy Abalone Shell Nickel Succinate X-ray Lens Lupine
UCSB Science Line
Home
How it Works
Ask a Question
Search Topics
Webcasts
Our Scientists
Science Links
Contact Information
If I dug a hole through the earth I would be digging down. What would happen after I passed the center. Would I be digging up? And how could I do it without burying myself somewhere between the center of the earth and the other side? (I understand that this is just a theoretical question)
Question Date: 2013-03-02
Answer 1:

That is exactly right! When we say “down” we really mean toward the center of the earth, because the Earth is round. So if you are sitting at the center of the Earth, every direction is “up!”


Answer 2:

Yes, you would be digging "up", if we say that up is the direction away from the center.

You would have to pile the dirt, rock, and magma that you dug out of the way onto the surface, or you would be buried. You'd basically be creating a giant anthill.



Click Here to return to the search form.
University of California, Santa Barbara Materials Research Laboratory National Science Foundation
This program is co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation and UCSB School-University Partnerships
Copyright © 2020 The Regents of the University of California,
All Rights Reserved.
UCSB Terms of Use