If you built a ring ten feet off the ground on supporting beams, all the way around the world, and then took out the supporting beams.....would it float? amirite?

Assuming that the tension was great enough it would

by Anonymous 13 years ago

:DDD

by Anonymous 13 years ago

... ... I don't know... But I'll go with Archangel=]

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Oh my gosh I wanna try this now.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

it might go into orbit o.O

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It would buckle, break, and fall due to gravity. According to chacha.com.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

*According to some random guy, not a researcher or scientist in the slightest.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I notice you aren't so quick to complain about lack of credentials when the answer is positive (see comment #260464)

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Psht, that was a long time ago. I'm a lot wiser now.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Trust me, I want the ring to float as much as you do D=

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yeah that's what I was thinking.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

omg thats such a cool idea!!! that would be pretty epic, unless your car was underneath it and it fell

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Depends how strong it was, but if the distance from the earth was exactly equal all the way round then yeah.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

One problem, theres probably going to be a few mountains taller than 10 feet in the way.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Haha, yeah, I don't know what I was thinking with the 10-feet. I really imagined it much higher, and it could be a sky-highway of sorts :P , the REAL flying cars of the future.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

...I'm thinking it might fall on one side and end up hula-hooping around the Earth because of rotation.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Why would it fall on one side?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

If the struts on one part of it were pulled away slightly later than the others, it would fall that way, no? Maybe not, it was just a thought.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

If they were released at a later time, like you said, then I would imagine that the whole ring would buckle and collapse because of gravity pushing down on the unsupported side.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

What of the entire ring was one unbroken peice (far-fetched, I know, but then again this whole thing is.) I was also wondering, could the whole thing be held up by one support after all of the other ones were pulled out first?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Hmmm... If anything, the single support might make it worse because, by being attached to both the earth and the ring, it would have to bear the weight of the entire ring. It would have to be an extremely strong support.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

This is a hypothetical, so let's just say that the column is very thick and made of an unbroken peice of diamond, and that the ring is one slim unbroken peice of diamond.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Well, if the column is unbreakable, then why did you ask the question? Haha

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Haha yeah you're right. I guess I meant could it be supported by one column without falling down somewhere, and I can't think of any reason why not. But it just seems so incredible to think that one column could hold up a ring that goes all the way around the world.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Ohhhhh, I understand. It is pretty crazy to think about

by Anonymous 13 years ago

That's exactly why they would all be taken away at the precisely the same second. Even if it didn't work, it would only be a few seconds off so it wouldn't have time to fall.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

A few seconds off could make a huge difference, especially with all of that weight.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

No it wouldn't, they could even hold it up with something mobile while they destruct the columns, so that it would take virtually no time to remove all support -- just slide the something out of the way on all sides.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

don't forget, the earth is huge. the chances that everyone would remove it in a synchronized manner is highly unlikely. Also, seconds always matter, especially in something that big.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

My friends told me about this, I think it's from highness or something like that

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I would agree, but I think that the atmospheric pressure would make it collapse. Cool idea, though.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

What about the atmosphere on the inside?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I don't see what you mean, or how it's relevant.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

There is an atmosphere outside the ring. There is an atmosphere inside the ring. Both will push on it.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

The ring is only 10 feet off of the ground. It would not be much of an atmosphere. The atmosphere on the outside is much greater.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Considering other comments (it being a solid layer instead of a ring), if it was a perfect sphere i think it could take the pressure.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Well, then we'd die anyways. No sunlight? Dead.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Glass? o.O

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Then we'd roast ourselves.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Why so serious :P

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Mythbusters!!!

by Anonymous 13 years ago

they need to do this.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I don't really get it wouldn't gravity cause it to fall? what's with all these theories

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Well if you put a hula-hoop with a ball in the centre, can you really imagine the hoop falling onto the ball?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

no...but the earth has gravitational pull so won't the hoop collapse?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Why would it? Every single part of it is being pulled exactly as much, and every single part of it would be pushing against the adjacent.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

ooh...OOOOH wow I understand now, hmmm.... this sounds like a challenge

by Anonymous 13 years ago

The force of gravity varies in different locations around the planet. Also, the ring would be subjected to differing atmospheric pressures and weather conditions along its length so I'm pretty sure the unbalanced forces would cause it to collapse. On the other hand, if the ring were built outside the atmosphere (kind of like Saturn's rings) ... I have no freaking idea what would happen.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

(Your+name+(optional)): We should make a man-made Saturn ring! On Earth!!!

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Im sorry but I dont get this at all.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Imagine if we measure the circumference of the earth, then add some distance, to make a hula-hoop for the Earth. If we let it go, there wouldn't be any place for it to go really, so it would stay floating in the sky.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

is the hula hoop in space?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I think you would have to remove all the beams at the exact same time.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

this sounds like a steven wright quote

by Anonymous 13 years ago

my new life goal is makeing this happen!!! THIS IS EPIC! its sooooooo gonna float!!!!!

by Anonymous 13 years ago

(veryexcited!!): .....go back to mlia

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I accept this challenge

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Someone should test this with a spherical magnet and a circle magnet around it.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

But you'd have to be in an anti-gravity location, no? I mean the circle would fall right down, and if done vertically than not only would it be pulled toward the sphere, but to the ground as well, making forces unequal.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Then we'll need some strong-ass magnets. Someone needs to get the Mythbusters on this.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

How do magnets work?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I have no idea.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

*Fucking magnets

by Anonymous 13 years ago

When magnets are dug up from earth they still have little bits of gravity in them so they can atract things

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Lol everything had ¨gravity¨, and it isn´t transferable.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

LIES

by Anonymous 13 years ago

sounds like a job for troll physics

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It might work but you would have to take out all of the support beams at the same time.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Well, I'm no physics expert, but I'll make a (slightly) educated guess. I don't think it could stay floating. Assuming that it did manage to float, the minute any significant force (such as a fairly strong wind) pushed the ring in any direction, the gravity would become greater on one side and pull that side of the ring towards earth. Then, as BreakfastFan suggested, I believe it would then hula hoop around the earth and destroy us all. So, let's not try it.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Here you guys go. I posted it on the mythbusters "submit a myth" forum. I bet if you guys generated a lot of buzz it will more likely get on the show. http://community.discovery.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9701967776/m/86019053701

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Not to be a jerk or anything, but how would they be able to test this myth? The only way I could see is if they did this on a GIGANTIC magnet with a ring made of metal. I don't think they have the budget for that.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

A small sphere with a magnetic core in a zero-gravity room. It won't be easy or inexpensive, but they have done harder and a LOT pricier.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I replied x) We need lotsa people to reply so someone important sees it on the website.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Im probably gonna sound like a huge douche, but im not understanding the scenario:/

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Hell yeah! I feel like mythbusters needs to get on this!! everyone submit it to their website!!

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Nikola Tesla actually had this exact idea. He wanted to use it for transportation. Take a rocket (his *hypothetical* ring was higher) to the ring and let the earth rotate until ur over the spot u wish to travel to. You could travel huge distances in minutes.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Tesla was such a crazy genius that he probably could have found a way to make it work too. His death was very unfortunate.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

i feel like the ring would possibly have a greater mass than the earth and our planet would be pulled to pieces by the ring's own gravity. And it would have it's own gravity of course, being that large.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

How would the ring have a bigger mass than the Earth?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

That would be great, except sea level is the low point, and if it's stuck on a bunch of mountains and buildings and people, it won't touch water.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Okay, a few things: If we lived in a windless world then it seems like this could work. If there was just nothing that could move the ring, then it does kind of seem possible. If you have trouble understanding this, then just picture a small circle as earth and then a larger circle encircling it that is perfectly distanced from it everywhere. If there was no gravity, but then you turned the gravity on, where would the circle go? If one side moved close to the earth, then the other side would have to move away. Well, not side but, you know what I mean? So since there are equal amounts of gravity from the inner circle affecting the larger circle at every spot, hypothetically, it should appear to be unaffected by gravity. I don't know about the support thing or his you could time it perfectly (well I can picture a computer controlled launch that would make ever support lower itself). For this to work, the ring would need to be made of something inflexible, thin, strong, and light. But ...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I'M SO HUNGRY. Who wants cereal and doesn't care about gravity, sea level and friction?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I asked this to two science teachers at my school today. The one said it would totally work, and the other was a little skeptical, but said it would work if you had really strong steel that wouldn't buckle.

by Anonymous 13 years ago