Chapter 1: Q4P (page 1)
Consider a rapid transit system consisting of frictionless tunnels bored through the earth between points and on the earth鈥檚 surface (see figure). The unpowered passenger trains would move under gravity. Using polar coordinates, set up to be minimized to find the path through the earth requiring the least time. See Chapter 6, Problem 8.21, for the potential inside the earth. Find a first integral of the Euler equation. Evaluate the constant of integration using when (where is the deepest point of the tunnel鈥攕ee figure). Now solve for as a function of . Substitute this into the integral for and evaluate the integral to show that the transit time is . Hint: Find . Evaluate for (path through the center of the earth鈥攕ee Chapter 8, Problem 5.35); for . [For more detail, see Am. J. Phys. 34 701鈥704 (1966).]

Short Answer
From the figure,

it is proved that the path through the earth requiring the least time is , and time at and are 42min and 46min, respectively.

