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Childish question

  • 28-08-2008 12:45pm
    #1
    Rev Hellfire
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,346 ✭✭✭


    My six year old son asked me this the other day and basically I was wondering what is the actual answer is (rather than the lie I told, got to keep the illusion that daddy is all knowing :) )

    Basically and I quote "do black holes fill up?". Now I know there's nothing to fill, but what is the eventual fate of a black hole ? Are they eternal ?


Comments

  • #2
    Spear
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Help & Feedback Category Moderators Posts: 25,758 CMod ✭✭✭✭Spear


    Rev Hellfire wrote: »
    My six year old son asked me this the other day and basically I was wondering what is the actual answer is (rather than the lie I told, got to keep the illusion that daddy is all knowing :) )

    Basically and I quote "do black holes fill up?". Now I know there's nothing to fill, but what is the eventual fate of a black hole ? Are they eternal ?

    They naturally evaporate through Hawking radiation, so they need to be feed matter constantly.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawking_radiation


  • #3
    Rev Hellfire
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,346 ✭✭✭Rev Hellfire


    thxs for the answer


  • #4
    Elem
    Closed Accounts Posts: 357 ✭✭Elem


    And how do they start? from too much matter?


  • #5
    Spear
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Help & Feedback Category Moderators Posts: 25,758 CMod ✭✭✭✭Spear


    Elem wrote: »
    And how do they start? from too much matter?

    Every mass has it's point called a Schwarzshild radius. It marks the point at which, if the object were smaller than this point, it'll collapse into a black hole.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwarzschild_radius

    There's also a minimum mass called the Chadrasekhar limit needed to overcome the repulsion due to electron degeneracy.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrasekhar_limit


  • #6
    Elem
    Closed Accounts Posts: 357 ✭✭Elem


    It's crazy! Sorry for all the questions, only started to read about astronomy and space.. find it very interesting.

    Where does this mass come from? Or why is it there?

    And is it possible, for example. If i put my cigarette out in the asstray, in the time it takes to cool down is it possible that im creating little universes? Which in this little time, is alot of time to them? Because if the ashtray is damp, are the basic elements of life there?


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  • #7
    Spear
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Help & Feedback Category Moderators Posts: 25,758 CMod ✭✭✭✭Spear


    Elem wrote: »
    It's crazy! Sorry for all the questions, only started to read about astronomy and space.. find it very interesting.

    Where does this mass come from? Or why is it there?

    And is it possible, for example. If i put my cigarette out in the asstray, in the time it takes to cool down is it possible that im creating little universes? Which in this little time, is alot of time to them? Because if the ashtray is damp, are the basic elements of life there?

    The mass could already be present just not small enough. If it's compressed enough to become smaller than it's Schwarzshild radius then it'll form a black hole. A common example is the core collapse during type II supernovae.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_II_supernova


  • #8
    se51
    Closed Accounts Posts: 23 ✭se51


    Rev Hellfire wrote: »
    My six year old son asked me this the other day and basically I was wondering what is the actual answer is (rather than the lie I told, got to keep the illusion that daddy is all knowing :) )

    Basically and I quote "do black holes fill up?". Now I know there's nothing to fill, but what is the eventual fate of a black hole ? Are they eternal ?


    According to our observations, a Black Hole technically is a star. However their gravity is so immense, that nothing ever escapes its gravity field, not even light. Having said that, yes, Black Holes do 'fill up' in terms of ever gaining matter from other stars or planets a Hole passes.

    No one knows exactly about the fate of a Black Hole. But it is theorized that - as mad as it sounds - if it had nothing to 'eat' for a while, they evaporate into nothing. I don't think they last forever. If our theory about Black Holes is correct, then eventually the universe will enter a 'dark era' where only Black Holes exist and swallow each other.


  • #9
    Pgibson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 406 ✭✭Pgibson


    Elem wrote: »
    Where does this mass come from? Or why is it there?
    .
    The Standard Model of Quantum Physics predicts that the Higgs Boson gives matter mass.

    The Higgs boson is the only particle never observed and so the Large Hadron Collider was built to try and detect it and vindicate the Standard Model.

    See:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson

    .


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