WOLFRAM NOTEBOOK

WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

Motion in a Tunnel through the Earth

time (sec)
700
height (km)
4000
Suppose a mass moves without friction through a linear tunnel dug between two points on the surface of the Earth. Assume that the Earth has uniform density. The force of gravity acts toward the center of the Earth. As this force is proportional to the displacement, it can be shown that the mass experiences simple harmonic motion with a period of oscillation of 84.3 minutes, independent of the position of the tunnel.
Wolfram Cloud

You are using a browser not supported by the Wolfram Cloud

Supported browsers include recent versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari.


I understand and wish to continue anyway »

You are using a browser not supported by the Wolfram Cloud. Supported browsers include recent versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari.