Earth = Black hole?

If the Earth was to shrink down so as to form a black hole, what would be the black hole's (approximate) radius?

Enter your answer in millimeters.

Details and Assumptions :

  • M e = 6 × 1 0 24 kg M_{e} = 6 \times 10^{24} \text{ kg} .

  • G = 6.67 × 1 0 11 N m 2 kg 2 G = 6.67 \times 10^{-11} \text{ N m}^{2}\text{ kg}^{-2} .

  • c = 3 × 1 0 8 ms 1 c = 3 \times 10^{8} \text{ ms}^{-1} .


Image credit : Wikimedia Alain r .


The answer is 8.9.

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2 solutions

Steven Zheng
Sep 15, 2014

The solution to a gravitational well of given mass is the Schwarzchild Radius 2 G M c 2 \frac{2GM}{{c}^{2}} . Substituting the given values, we get 8.893E-3 m or 8.893 mm.

We know that the expression for escape velocity (which can be derived from Energy conservation quite simply) is as follows :

v e = 2 G M r { v }_{ e }\quad =\quad \sqrt { \frac { 2GM }{ r } }

where v e { v }_{ e } is the escape velocity, G G is the Universal Gravitational Constant, M M is the mass of the spherically symmetric body and r r is the radius of the same.

Now, for a black hole, the escape velocity is the speed of light since the gravitational field is so strong.

Hence,

c = 2 G M r c\quad=\quad \sqrt { \frac { 2GM }{ r } }

Squaring both sides, we get :

c 2 = 2 G M r { c }^{ 2 }\quad=\quad \frac { 2GM }{ r }

Rearranging terms we get:

r = 2 G M c 2 r\quad=\quad \frac { 2GM }{ { c }^{ 2 } }

Plugging in the given values, we get r = 8.89 m m r= \boxed {8.89 mm}

I have a doubt. Even light can't escape black holes, so how's the escape velocity equal to the speed of light?

Swapnil Das - 5 years, 1 month ago

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This isn't actually how you derive the Schwarzchild Radius. To derive it correctly, one cannot use Newtonian physics. I can't say I know how it works, but somehow errors cancel and you are left with the same equation that would be given if you tried to use Newton's laws of gravity.

Alex G - 5 years, 1 month ago

That is the maximum radius.A mite smaller than it would suffice to create a black hole.

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