Brachistochrone Problem Inside The Earth Revisited: Motohiko Saitoh

Brachistochrone problem inside the Earth revisited
Ver. 3/07
Motohiko Saitoh
The brachistochrone, or the quickest descent path under the uniform gravity is well-known, the solution of which
is a cycloid. We consider here the brachistochrone between the two points on the Earth surface which are connected
by a tunnel. For this purpose the modied Fermats priciple is employed for the spherically symmetric velocity eld.
Historically the brachistochrone problem, or the quickest decent under the uniform gravity was posed rst by
Johann Bernoulli in June 1696, and the problem was solved by famous mathematicians of the time such as Leibnitz,
Jacob Bernoulli, Newton and de LHopital in May 1697 [1].
The answer is a cycloid connecting the starting point A and the destination B, and the time required to pass from

2l/g, where l is the distance between A and B. The cycloid is a curve produced by a
point A to B is given by
point P on a circumference of a circle when it rotates on the horizontal plane without slippage, and its parametric
representation with circle radius a is given by
x = a( sin ),
y = a(1 cos ).
(1)
where is the rotation angle of the circle. If the distance between A and B is l, then the radius is is given by
a = l/(2).
This answer is easily achieved if one notice the so-called Fermats principle of the minimum time which states that
light chooses the fastest path when it passes from a point to another. When the space is seperated into the the media
1 and 2, and the incident angle to the interface from the media 1 to 2 is denoted as 1 , and the refraction angle in
the medium 2 as 2 , then Fermats principle says that the path should satisfy the condition
v2
v1
=
.
(2)
sin 1
sin 2
This is equivalent to Snells law of refraction
n1 sin 1 = n2 sin 2 ,
if one notes that the light velocicy v is given by v = c/n where c is the light velocity in the vacuum and the refraction
indices of the media are n1 and n2 , respectively.
We now consider the brachistochrone problem inside the Earth [2]. The gravity force inside of the Earth is
proportional to the distance r from the center of the Earth, similar to the Hookes law for the spring: fr = kr,
where k = mg/R with m the mass of the particle, g( 9.8m/s2 ) the gravity acceleration constant and R the radius
of the Earth. This can be proved by the direct calculation of the gravity force, or more concisely by using the
Newton-Gauss theorem which appers in the standard course of electrodynamics.
The velocity v of a partricle at r from the center is given by
1 2 1 2 2
v + r = const.
2
2
from the energy conservation law for the spring, where =
tunnel on the Earth surface is 0, then const. = 2 R2 /2, and
v=
R2 r 2 .
g/R. If the initial velocity at the entrance A of the
(3)
For the quickest path, we only need to consider the path on the bisecting plane passing through the points A, B
and the Earth center O. Fermats principle (2) must be modied for this case of the circularly symmetric velocity in
the following way:
v
= const.
(4)
r sin
This can be obtained from the Euler-Lagrange equation of the variational calculus. Or more elementarily it is
Fig. 1. Path for the spherically symmetric velocity field.

deduced from the usual refraction law by considering three media bounded by two concentric circles. In Fig. 1 the
particle travels on a straight line in the medium in the middle, but the angle of refraction 1 at P1 and the angle
of incidence 1 at P2 where P1 and P2 are on the boundary surfaces of the medium are not equal because of the
dierent curvatures of the boundary circles. This means that the refraction angle into the medium is not directly
translated into the incident angle to the next medium, in contrast to the boundaries of the parallel lines. By applying
the sine theorem to the triangle made by the center of the circles O and the two points P1 and P2 on the trajectory
line, we have
OP2
OP1
=
,
sin 1
sin 1
and it is seen that the correction factor of the radius becomes necessary as in (4).
Let OA be the x axis, and let the trajectory P of the particle be expressed by r = r() in the circular coordinates.
Then the sine of the angle of incidence of the trajectory is given by
rd
=
sin =
(dr)2 + (rd)2
1 dr 2
r d
1/2
+1
The modied Fermats principle (4) tells that

1 2
R r2
r

1 dr
r d
2
+ 1 = const. = c.
(5)
From this, we obtain

(
(c2 + 1)r2 R2
1 dr 2
.
) =
r d
R2 r 2
To determine the constant c, we choose the minimum of r to be Rm , then we have c2 + 1 = (R/Rm )2 , and so
R
dr
=
r
d
Rm
2
r 2 Rm
.
2
R r2
(6)
From this dierential equation (6), we have

Rm
=
R
dr
r
R2 r 2
2
r 2 Rm
by choosing the appropriate sign. This can be integrated by changing the variable from r to by
r2 =

1 2
2
2
(R + Rm
) + (R2 Rm
) cos ,
2
(7)
and the result is

= tan1
Rm
R
tan
Rm
.
2
2R
(8)
The path of the tunnel r = r() is expressed parametrically by (7) and (8).
The time t required for the particle to travel from A to the point P is given by

t
=
A
ds
1
=
v
2
R2 Rm
R
d
dr
dr
R
(r )2 + r 2
R2 r 2
1
.
drr
2
2
2
(R r )(r 2 Rm
)
This is integrated by the use of (7) to yield

1
t=
2
1(
Rm 2
) .
R
(9)
That is, the angular velocity d/dt is constant. The time T to take from A to B corresponds to = 2, and so
T =
1(
Rm 2
) .
R
(10)
In the case of the straight tunnel passing through the Earth center, we can set Rm = 0 to obtain Ts = /.
The curve obtained in (7) and (8) appears to be complicated but has a simple geometrical interpretation. In fact
this curve is called hypo-cycloid, a generalized curve from cycloid. Hypo-cycloid is the curve produced by a point P
on a small circle O with radius a when it rolls inside of a larger circle O with radius R by touching the perimeter
(see Fig. 2). Let the rotating angle of the smaller circle be , then the curve in the parametrical representation is
Fig. 2. Hypo-cycloid.
given by
x
a
a
) + a cos (1 )
R
R
a
a
(R a) sin( ) a sin (1 ) .
R
R
(R a) cos(
(11)
(12)

In Fig. 2, it will be clearly understood if we notice that r = O P = O O + OP and AO O = a/R which is obtained
from the rolling condition of the smaller circle without slippage. These will be shown to be equivqlent to the set (7)
and (8) in the following way.
If we take a = (1/2)(R Rm ) in the above equation for a hypo-cycloid, then we have
x

,
cos
+ sin sin
2
2
2
2

,
cos sin
r sin = R sin cos
2
2
2
2
r cos = R cos
where = Rm /R. From this, (7) will be obtained easily if we calculate r 2 = (x2 + y 2 ). Devision of the each side of
the above equations will lead to
tan =
tan(/2) tan(/2)

x
=
= tan tan1 ( tan )
,
y
1 + tan(/2) tan(/2)
2
2
and this is seen to be equivalent to (8). Hence, the tunnel trajectory given by (7) and (8) is a hypo-cycloid.
Geometrically, the angle + (/2) is seen to be equal to O PM, if the cross point of the line O O and circle O
is denoted as M. The motion of the particle follows P of the small circle O when it rotates with the constant angular
2
sin(/2)and directs parallel along
velocity, d/dt = 2/ 1 2 . The velocity of point P is given by R2 Rm
PM. The great circle distance l between A and B is given by l = 2a = (R Rm )and the angle between A and
B from the Earth center, = AOB is given by = l/R = (1 ).
If the points A and B are located at the opposite positions with respect to the Earth center, and the tunnel is
straight ( = 0), then the required time Ts is given by /, which is roughly 41 min. This is precisely equal to the
freight time of the satelite ying just above the Earth surface.
In the limit of large R, or (a/R) 0, the corespondence R x y, y x made in (11) and (12) leads to the
cycloid of (1). It should be noted that hypo-cycloid has also the tautochrone property under the harmonic potential
similar to cycloid under the uniform gravity. We leave the proof for the reader, as it can be proved easily.
References
[1] http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/HistTopics/Brachistochrone.html
[2] E.J. Routh, A Treatise on Dynamics of a Particle, (Cambridge University Press, 1898).

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Brachistochrone problem inside the Earth revisited

g/R. If the initial velocity at the entrance A of the

Fig. 1. Path for the spherically symmetric velocity field.

The modied Fermats principle (4) tells that

From this, we obtain

From this dierential equation (6), we have

and the result is

This is integrated by the use of (7) to yield

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