Other Inside Information

• The deeper you go, the hotter it is.
  (By 15 to 75 Kelvins per kilometer of depth.)
  (See temperature)
  • evidence: just go down in a mine.
  • plausible energy source: radioactive decay, eg of uranium.
• The deeper you go, the more pressure there is.
  • evidence: it follows from F = ma and the law of gravity.
  • evidence: just dive to the bottom of a swimming pool.
• We can get detailed information by seeing how earthquake waves travel through the earth.
  

Here is a question using similar principles. You are in the middle of a big room. There is no light at all, so you can't see anything. The big room might be a cathedral, with walls made of rock. Or it might be a theater with heavy cloth curtains hanging from all of the walls. How could you tell without turning on the lights or touching the walls?

---

ASTR 121 Home