vapours of elements, in the hollow to the same density of 6·24 times
that of water, which we have shown need not be exceeded in any part of
the earth. And such being the case, we can place the division between
solid and gasiform matter in any point of the radius that may seem to
us reasonable, only we must always have as much solid matter in the
inner as in the outer half-mass of the earth.
Following nearly the result we have obtained in another way, by
placing the division of the hollow part at 3000 miles in diameter,
the volume of which is 14,137,200,000 cubic miles, and multiplying
this by 6·24, we get a mass equal to 88,216,128,000 cubic miles at
density of water, composed of vaporous and gaseous matter in the hollow
centre, and consequently much greater than is required to make up the
total mass of the earth at the density of water; which shows that the
density of the mass between the diameters of 7450 and 3000 miles must
be less than 6·24 times that of water. How much less is very easily
found, by dividing the surplus of 88,216,128,000 cubic miles over the
whole volume between 7450 miles in diameter and the centre, because
in this way we shall include the whole mass arising from both solid
and gasiform matter. This whole volume--that of a globe 7450 miles in
diameter--is 216,505,262,050 cubic miles, which, divided by the surplus
gives the amount 0·407 as the density to be deducted from 6·24 on its
account, and therefore the greatest density of any part of the earth
need not be over 5·833 times that of water.
This result derived from our operations will be acknowledged, we doubt
not, to be much more satisfactory, we might say, more comprehensible,
than to have to believe that our known rocks and stones could be
compressed till they were 13·734 or even 8·8 times heavier than water.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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