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CONTENTS
 

Introduction

Fermi's Piano Tuner Problem

How Old is Old?

If the Terrestrial Poles were to Melt...

Sunlight Exerts Pressure

Falling Eastward

What if an Asteroid Hit the Earth

Using a Jeep to Estimate the Energy in Gasoline

How do Police Radars really work?

How "Fast" is the Speed of Light?

How Long is a Light Year?

How Big is a Trillion?

"Seeing" the Earth, Moon, and Sun to Scale

Of Stars and Drops of Water

If I Were to Build a Model of the Cosmos...

A Number Trick

Designing a High Altitude Balloon

Pressure in the Vicinity of a Lunar Astronaut Space Suit due to Outgassing of Coolant Water

Calendar Calculations

Telling Time by the Stars - Sidereal Time

Fields, an Heuristic Approach

The Irrationality of

The Irrationality of

The Number (i)i

Estimating the Temperature of a Flat Plate in Low Earth Orbit

Proving that (p)1/n is Irrational when p is a Prime and n>1

The Transcendentality of

Ideal Gases under Constant Volume, Constant Pressure, Constant Temperature and Adiabatic Conditions

Maxwell's Equations: The Vector and Scalar Potentials

A Possible Scalar Term Describing Energy Density in the Gravitational Field

A Proposed Relativistic, Thermodynamic Four-Vector

Motivational Argument for the Expression-eix=cosx+isinx

Another Motivational Argument for the Expression-eix=cosx+isinx
Calculating the Energy from Sunlight over a 12 hour period
Calculating the Energy from Sunlight over actual full day
Perfect Numbers-A Case Study
Gravitation Inside a Uniform Hollow Sphere
Further note on Gravitation Inside a Uniform Hollow Sphere
Pythagorean Triples
Black Holes and Point Set Topology
Additional Notes on Black Holes and Point Set Topology
Field Equations and Equations of Motion (General Relativity)
The observer in modern physics
A Note on the Centrifugal and Coriolis Accelerations as Pseudo Accelerations - PDF File
On Expansion of the Universe - PDF File
 
Gravitation Inside A Uniform Hollow Sphere

The gravitational force inside a hollow sphere shell of uniform areal mass density is everywhere equal to zero, and may be proved by the following argument:

Let the sphere have a radius a. Place a point P inside the sphere at a distance r from the center where r < a; i.e., r is strictly less than a. Draw a line through P to intersect the sphere at two opposite points. Call these points alpha andbeta. Let the distance from P to alpha be r1, and the distance from P tobeta be r2.

Now place a differential area dAalpha at alpha, and project straight lines through P to acquire its image dAbeta at beta. These two areas subtend a solid angle dflux at P. Let the sphere have areal mass density rho(kg/m2). Then the net differential attraction dF of dAalpha and dAbeta at P directed toward alpha is just

dF = rho( dAalpha /r12 - dAbeta/r22).

But dAalpha = r12 dflux, and dAbeta = r22 dflux by definition of the solid angle. Thus,

dF = rho((r12 dflux)/r12 - (r22 dflux)/r22) = 0.

This result is true for all choices of dAalpha and dAbeta. The gravitational force within the sphere is everywhere equal to zero.


Please send suggestions/corrections to:
Web Related: David.Mazza@grc.nasa.gov
Technology Related: Joseph.C.Kolecki@grc.nasa.gov
Responsible NASA Official: Theresa.M.Scott (Acting)