Page:Clement Fezandié - Through the Earth.djvu/130

110 travels, will lie find himself any farther front in the car?"

"No."

"He'd find himself pushed forward when the car stopped," interposed Flora. "I've noticed that whenever a car stops suddenly I'm always thrown forward."

"Yes; but that's because you're no longer traveling at the same speed as the car. When the car stops, its speed becomes less, while yours remains the same as before. Consequently you are really traveling faster than the car for the time being, and so you tend to get ahead of it."

"Well, I understand all that," growled Mr. Curtis; "but what has this got to do with the entirely different kind of car that we are going to drop through the earth?"

"It has everything to do with the matter. At what speed do you suppose the car will be going during the first second of its fall?"

"It will fall sixteen feet during the first second, being pulled downward by the attraction of the earth."

"Correct; and how fast will the boy be falling?"

"He will be falling sixteen feet per second, too,