The force of gravity decreases as we go down toward the center of the earth and becomes equalized at the center. So why does pressure increase with depth, for example in the ocean? — HN, Vancouver, British Columbia
It’s true that the force of gravity decreases with depth, so that if you were to find yourself in a cave at the center of the earth, you would be completely weightless. However, pressure depends on more than local gravity: it depends on the weight of everything being supported overhead. So while you might be weightless, you would still be under enormous pressure. Your body would be pushing outward on everything around you, trying to prevent those things from squeezing inward and filling the space you occupy. In fact, your body would not succeed in keeping those things away and you would be crushed by their inward pressure.
More manageable pressures surround us everyday. Our bodies do their part in supporting the weight of the atmosphere overhead when we’re on land or the weight of the atmosphere and a small part of the ocean when we’re swimming at sea. The deeper you go in the ocean, the more weight there is overhead and the harder your body must push upward. Thus the pressure you exert on the water above you and the pressure that that water exerts back on you increases with depth. Even though gravity is decreasing as you go deeper and deeper, the pressure continues to increase. However, it increases a little less rapidly as a result of the decrease in local gravity.