How Does Three minutes to the centre of the Earth - BBC Work?

Three minutes to the centre of the Earth is like taking a super-fast elevator ride all the way down through the ground until you reach the very middle.

Imagine you're in a big, strong elevator, but instead of going up to the top floor of a building, it goes all the way down, through mountains, oceans, and even the Earth’s hot inside!

How the elevator works

This special elevator is powered by something called gravity. Gravity is like an invisible string that pulls things toward the centre of the Earth. When you jump up, gravity pulls you back down, just like when you bounce on a trampoline.

In this fun video from the BBC, they use a computer to show how fast the elevator would go if it wasn’t stopped by anything. It zooms down through layers of rock and hot magma until it reaches the centre, all in just three minutes!

It’s like going from your bedroom to the middle of the Earth in less time than it takes to boil a kettle!

Take the quiz →

Examples

  1. A child imagines traveling to Earth's center in just three minutes, like a quick trip across town.
  2. Using simple ideas like falling through layers of the Earth, like a slide ride.
  3. The core is imagined as a glowing hot place with lava and fire.

Ask a question

See also

Discussion

Recent activity