Take the tour ×  Would the effect of gravity on me change if I
were to dig a very deep hole and stand in it? If so, how would
it change? Am I more likely to be pulled downwards, or pulled
towards the edges of the hole? If there would be no change, why
not?  share|improve this question add comment  5 Answers  up
vote 19 down vote accepted  The other answers provide a first-
order approximation, assuming uniform density (though Adam
Zalcman's does allude to deviations from linearity). (Summary:
All the mass farther away from the center cancels out, and
gravity decreases linearly with depth from 1 g at the surface to
zero at the center.)  But in fact, the Earth's core is
substantially more dense than the outer layers (mantle and
crust), and gravity actually increases a bit as you descend,
reaching a maximum at the boundary between the outer core and
the lower mantle. Within the core, it rapidly drops to zero as
you approach the center, where the planet's entire mass is
exerting a gravitational pull from all direc