this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2024
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By this logic, the Earth would move at supersonic speed below me whenever I jump. When I start falling, I keep my momentum with the surface of the Earth.
Anyway, of course there will be lateral movement because it's hard to control one's aerodynamics precisely enough. But theoretically, if you had an indestructible smooth pipe and there was no drag, you could safely travel to the other side of the world in under an hour.
Your momentum is equal to the product of your mass and velocity. Earth’s gravitational acceleration is roughly 9.8m/s squared, so your momentum increases with time as you are pulled towards the core.
While you are falling down, the earth will start to continue to move in the direction it’s going, and since you are no longer being held down onto it, you will start slowly drifting towards the sides of the pit, where eventually you will make contact, unable to move yourself away from the sides. This will likely happen after you’ve reached significant downward velocity.
Anyway, we’re talking about a pit with no bottom, in a cartoon that’s making a joke.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_force
The pipe would need to curve for it to work