Author Topic: Digging A Deep Hole  (Read 6187 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline German_EETopic starter

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2399
  • Country: de
Digging A Deep Hole
« on: April 23, 2017, 09:31:14 am »
As a kid growing up in the UK I was always told that if I dug a deep enough hole I would reach Australia. Well, no, apart from the small problem of the Earth's core I would miss the target:

http://www.findlatitudeandlongitude.com/antipode-map/

The link gets you to two maps, move one to your present location and the other one shows where your hole will come out. In my case (near Frankfurt) I come out off the coast of New Zealand. Have a play, it's surprising how much water there is on our little planet.
Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.

Warren Buffett
 

Offline Brumby

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 12288
  • Country: au
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2017, 09:56:26 am »
Sydney ends up around 500km SSW of the Azores, swimming, of course.
 

Offline BradC

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2104
  • Country: au
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2017, 10:48:04 am »
As a kid growing up in the UK I was always told that if I dug a deep enough hole I would reach Australia. Well, no, apart from the small problem of the Earth's core I would miss the target:

Huh. We looked that up not quite 4 hours ago when my 3 year old wanted to dig a hole and my Wife told him he'd end up in China. Turns out he'd end up way off the coast of South Carolina. He didn't find that as amusing as China.
 

Offline SeanB

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 16272
  • Country: za
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2017, 11:20:55 am »
I land up in the ocean near Hawaii though, a lovely place to be.
 

Offline rrinker

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2046
  • Country: us
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #4 on: April 23, 2017, 04:52:09 pm »
 I end up out in the ocean southwest of Perth.
 

Offline ajb

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2582
  • Country: us
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2017, 05:12:46 pm »
There's not a whole lot of overlap between occupied landmasses.  Unless you're in parts of South America/Eastern China/Mongolia/Southeast Asia It's ocean for you!  Unless you're in Northern Canada/Greenland where your reward for all of that digging is going to be...more snow and ice.

Here's a neat overlaid antipodes map:


(from here: https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/118925/making-world-map-to-show-where-hole-drilled-through-centre-of-earth-starts-ends)
 

Offline KJDS

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2442
  • Country: gb
    • my website holding page
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2017, 05:47:52 pm »
I miss New Zealand by quite a way. I did think I'd end up on a small island, but it turned out my screen just needed cleaning.

Offline SeanB

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 16272
  • Country: za
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #7 on: April 23, 2017, 06:13:59 pm »
Well, If I travel to Gaborone, i will just about end up within swimming distance of Hawaii, and if I go to Etosha I can choose Honolulu.
 

Offline CatalinaWOW

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 5170
  • Country: us
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #8 on: April 23, 2017, 06:52:14 pm »
Hitting New Zealand instead of Australia from the far side of the world isn't much of a miss.  Just some rounding error.
 

Offline GeorgeOfTheJungle

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • !
  • Posts: 2699
  • Country: tr
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #9 on: April 23, 2017, 07:02:47 pm »
I'd end up at the sea near Auckland NZ
The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.
 

Offline hendorog

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1617
  • Country: nz
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #10 on: April 23, 2017, 07:15:10 pm »
I end up in Spain near Montecorto, north west of Ronda...
 

Offline GeorgeOfTheJungle

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • !
  • Posts: 2699
  • Country: tr
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #11 on: April 23, 2017, 07:25:12 pm »
I end up in Spain near Montecorto, north west of Ronda...

That's just 100 km from here, and Ronda is a very beautiful place.
The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.
 

Offline hendorog

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1617
  • Country: nz
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #12 on: April 23, 2017, 07:36:36 pm »
I end up in Spain near Montecorto, north west of Ronda...

That's just 100 km from here, and Ronda is a very beautiful place.

Wow, yes I just found some pictures of it. Stunning.
 

Offline Rick Law

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3423
  • Country: us
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #13 on: April 23, 2017, 07:37:24 pm »
As a kid growing up in the UK I was always told that if I dug a deep enough hole I would reach Australia.
...
...

The danger of assumptions.   Nothing there said the deep hole must be radial.  It didn't even say the hole must be linear.  It just needs to be deep.  Therefore, I can dig a very deep hole and then exit any point on the earth surface I like.

Nothing in

Edit - removed the half-sentence above that somehow got into my reply.
« Last Edit: April 23, 2017, 08:01:25 pm by Rick Law »
 

Offline GeorgeOfTheJungle

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • !
  • Posts: 2699
  • Country: tr
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #14 on: April 23, 2017, 07:53:36 pm »
Nothing there said the deep hole must be radial.  It didn't even say the hole must be linear.

LOL, yes, escape from Alcatraz!
The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.
 

Offline apelly

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 1061
  • Country: nz
  • Probe
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #15 on: April 23, 2017, 08:30:00 pm »
Here's a neat overlaid antipodes map:
Cool map, but why am I finding this fascinating? Clearly I have some undiagnosed issue.

I once found a similar reference tool which, from memory, was about making earth sandwiches. Maybe it was in The Last Word at the end of a New Scientist.

FWIW There is a kind of multi-geocache that requires finding caches on opposite sides of the planet. But the name for these also escapes me right now.
 

Offline tautech

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 28136
  • Country: nz
  • Taupaki Technologies Ltd. Siglent Distributor NZ.
    • Taupaki Technologies Ltd.
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #16 on: April 23, 2017, 08:35:09 pm »
I'd end up at the sea near Auckland NZ
Let me know when you are coming, I'll fish you out.  :)
Avid Rabid Hobbyist
Siglent Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SiglentVideo/videos
 

Offline GeorgeOfTheJungle

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • !
  • Posts: 2699
  • Country: tr
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #17 on: April 24, 2017, 03:37:32 pm »
I'd end up at the sea near Auckland NZ
Let me know when you are coming, I'll fish you out.  :)

That would be amazing hahaha
The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.
 

Online tszaboo

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7306
  • Country: nl
  • Current job: ATEX product design
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #18 on: April 24, 2017, 04:06:52 pm »
We even calculated, how much time it would take to dig down a 1m x 1m hole there. At some point you need to dig upwards. And afterwards, you can just jump into the hole, and pop out on the other side. To avoid being stuck and fall forever, of course you need to jump from a chair, to get some extra speed. And jump head down, fall some 30 minutes, and do a "hop", straddle when you arrived. We ignored heat and air density for the simplicity.
 

Offline GeorgeOfTheJungle

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • !
  • Posts: 2699
  • Country: tr
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #19 on: April 24, 2017, 04:51:57 pm »
We even calculated, how much time it would take to dig down a 1m x 1m hole there. At some point you need to dig upwards. And afterwards, you can just jump into the hole, and pop out on the other side. To avoid being stuck and fall forever, of course you need to jump from a chair, to get some extra speed. And jump head down, fall some 30 minutes, and do a "hop", straddle when you arrived. We ignored heat and air density for the simplicity.

But I'd have a tiny problem with the waters of the Pacific...
The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.
 

Offline German_EETopic starter

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2399
  • Country: de
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #20 on: April 24, 2017, 05:02:42 pm »
It's not as good as the original but board members should watch the remake of Total Recall (Total Recall 2012) which covers the subject of travel between two holes..
Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.

Warren Buffett
 

Online Fgrir

  • Regular Contributor
  • *
  • Posts: 153
  • Country: us
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #21 on: April 24, 2017, 05:05:30 pm »
We ignored heat and air density for the simplicity.
And the Earth's rotation - you'd get pretty bruised from bouncing off the walls unless you are going from pole to pole.

Personally though I think I'd want to stop in the center of the earth and live in zero gravity - much more interesting than anything I might find on the other side  ;)
 

Offline mtdoc

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3575
  • Country: us
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #22 on: April 24, 2017, 05:07:59 pm »
Interesting thought experiment: If you could dig a hole straight through the center of the Earth and coming out the other side, what would happen gravitational wise if you fell in (ignoring issues of temperature, liquid outer core, etc)?  Would you fall until you reached the center? at which point, if it was exactly the center you'd be suspended in mid air?  :-//

EDIT: Oops, Fgrir - you beat me to it..
« Last Edit: April 24, 2017, 05:09:49 pm by mtdoc »
 

Offline German_EETopic starter

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2399
  • Country: de
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #23 on: April 24, 2017, 05:28:13 pm »
In theory your momentum from the fall would carry you through the core of the Earth and out the other side. Air resistance would reduce your speed though and I'm not sure about electromagnetic effects with the walls of your capsule Vs Earth's magnetic field.
Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.

Warren Buffett
 

Online Zero999

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 19345
  • Country: gb
  • 0999
Re: Digging A Deep Hole
« Reply #24 on: April 24, 2017, 07:41:31 pm »
Air resistance would stop you from falling all the way though the earth. You'd get near the surface at the other side, then fall back again. The cycle would repeat, decaying exponentially, until you stop in the middle.
 


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf