Demoine courier., 1856-02-28
r. o...,o,t,s Question Answered.

M OysrhOIt's Question
Sir: I noticed in the
oanr;., If February l4th., a philo'oph
a. question from J. M. oyerh0''', NJ.
b, which he desires some one 10 an
-. and after he has heard abe op'n-
If ,ome philosophical friends, he
favor u. with his, theory.
The question - as follows: .''lhe
of The esrlh. Icing the centre Of
.,vi,r, suppose a. hole to pass through
and a cannon BALI shculd be let fall,
there would the ball 60 III would 1t 60
The centre and stop, OF would i: iu-
4rea.e in velocity until j. repched niihe
l.,ue. and then pass on through, and
hen return, and SO on until it would Fl.
hally stop" =. the csn'res
New the answer to this question !
mil state briefly, and then assign my
beasens.
I3r,he frs, place, | will suppose tha'
1kbe bali falls through perfect vacuum.
lin tina, case, il would pass the centre
}wix, a velocity sufficient TO carry it'o
R.he Spoosi,e side Of the esr'h, when 1t
would return, and so on. peEPemslly.-
EBu, in case it met with resistance from
,be air. !, would pass the CENTRE and
Then return, and so on, until it would IT,
snally ATOP a,the centre,
The only thing tina. renders this ques-
E,;ou obrcure, 10 ina. in as much as all
~g,olie. are attracted toward the centre OF
The earth, why would the ball pass 'h'
centre when drawn TO i'by The a''rac
ton Of gravi,a,ios' The answer is 'he
velocity the bali has acquired when II
peaches the centre Of the earth, will carry
i, oo., ,ha. point. The only thing 'ha'
remain, to be shown is, that it will 40
,rspy increase in velocity until II reacn'
lss',As censse. lp ordsE, to Do his re.
fer 10 The following, ,hsorsm'' "n'fn
the reader will 6kd demonstrated .I J"
/ o,m.,ead.s PhiIo'ophy, Vol. ls'.' Sec.
L lions ls and IA, VIZ: "a body situated n
1 within a hollow sphere. will remain al
tea. in any par,of the void And 'ee'
sad,y, the force of gravity belo;22s lie
VII. surface is. a, dsgsrsn. distances Instance
from the centre. directly. as 's,asa DIS
,ance..". T,hessfose a eslpHsoR bali tall
ing from the surface towards. TAG GENRE
with a constantly increasing velocity
produced by . constantly decreasing
/ force, until i, coaches The centre when II
! would no, be acted upon by ias. a''rac'
] ION Of the earth. and consequently "
I would pass the centre, and 60 on WIN o
Consistently decreasing velocity, he 'tloc'
1 ily being overcome by a constantly IN
c.easing forge. And suppose the ball 10
meet with 10 resistance from the a'mos
phere, il would pass 10 the opPo'i Q s'ce
OF The earth, when it would return ana
90 on perpe,, ally. O'un.,ead'' Phl'oso'
phy, vol. l.., page "a. Theorem: The
Escs described by a body ~asstsd'ng io'
givea,ims is eqasi, 10 the 'facs'hroush
whisha body would fall from :e''oy
. the aclioa Of gra,i.alion in The same
! ,ime;" or in other wor':s, i will require
\ the same time Cor q body to descend per
~npdicularly to the earth. that il took e
a,cend when projected upwards by
given force. This is true ip theory on
~. on the %suaposisioa that the body
meets with 10 resistance from the a'inos'
Rhere. Blu, IN case The ball meets ~','
resistance from the atmosphere il wou'f
no, acquire the same velocity as IN TIT
case ola ysSupMi. and. subsequently !
woulA, viOra'a backwards and forwards
and, finally stop ss'ihe centre.
A. q: 0LNEY, A. NJ.