Black Holes Essay -- essays research papers fc

If theories of their existence are true,black holes are the most mighty force in theknown physical universe. Many people are familiarwith the term black hole, but few people actuall(a)yknow anything about them. A black hole forms asa result of a massive star running out of fuel toburn (Chaisson, 193). Once the star is no longerexerting outward force by burning off gases, itbegins to collapse chthonian its own intense, inwardgravity (Chaisson, 193). It is like slowly let theair out of a testisoon. Once the star is compacted toa certain size, while its mass, or weight, remainsthe same, its gravity becomes so powerful that nonhing can escape it (Hawking, 87). This criticalsize to weight ratio is known as the SchwarzchildRadius (Hawking, 87). Once a black hole iscreated in this way, an invisible area, or melodic phrasearound it exists. If any fair game crosses this line, itcan no longer escape the gravitational force of theblack hole (Hawking, 87). This line is called theevent hori zon (Hawking, 87). If black holes areproven to exist, beyond theoretical physics, thenthey would probably be a very common anomalyin this universe. In 1915, Albert Einstein put forththe first real proposition of such an anomaly in hisTheory of Relativity (Bunn, Black Holes FAQ).In the 1930s, triple physicists, doctors Volkoff,Snyder and Oppenheimer, were able to prove thevalidity of black holes mathematically. Since then,black holes have become a very important andintegral part of science and the over allunderstanding of the universe. It has been proven,mathematically, that black holes have infinite,gravity based, escape velocities and an immenseeffect on light, time and even the very fabric of position. All bodies in space have gravity. Accordingto Einsteins Theory of Relativity, this is becausebodies with a large mass, or weight, actually warpspace (Chaisson, 77). For example, if a twodimensional sheet of cloth, stretched andsuspended at four corners, represents space, anda bowli ng ball is placed in the center, the sheet willwarp downward. If a golf ball is then set at theedge of the sheet and allowed to move freely it willbe attracted toward the bowling ball, unless thegolf ball is traveling at a speed great enough to notbe effected by the curve. This critical speed isknown as an escape velocity. This is the speed atwhich an object must travel to e... ... the equations arevalid, wormholes most assuredly do not exist. Ifthey did it would probably send shivers up thescience fiction communitys spine. In the book,Relatively Speaking, the Author, Eric Chaissonsays, The world of science is littered withmathematically elegant theories that apparentlyhave no basis in reality (182). Although blackholes have not been conclusively proven to exist,there is strong evidence, in the observableuniverse, that they do. Black holes are veryimportant to the world of cosmology. They allowfor the study of common particles under veryuncommon environmental variables. Scientistsh ave vastly increased their knowledge of theuniverse and the properties of matter through thestudy of a black holes effects on light, time and thefabric of the space. Works Cited Bunn, TedBlack Holes FAQ. NSF Science andTechnology Center (September 1995) Online.Internet.http//physics7.berkeley.edu/Bhfaq.HTMLChaisson, Eric. Relatively Speaking Relativity,Black Holes, and the Fate of the Universe. NewYork W.W. Norton & Company, 1988.Hawking, Stephen. A Brief business relationship of Time Fromthe Big Bang to Black Holes. New York BantamBooks, 1988. Manthe 5