by Wayne Leon Learmond

Created on: September 11, 2008   Last Updated: September 12, 2008

What is a Black Hole? How are they created? How big are they? What would happen if you fell into one? These are just some of the questions that people ask constantly, in reference to these enigmas of space. To understand whether or not the Large Hadron Collider would have the capability to destroy the planet and the solar system by creating a 'Black Hole', you first have to understand how Black Holes work, how they operate.

So, to deal with the first question, what is a Black Hole? It is an object that contains more Mass, and Density in a particular part of space than any other object known. Any objects that fall into a Black Hole, cannot escape the hole's gravitational pull, and are, inevitably, sucked in, never to be seen again. Einstein's Theory of Relativity is the best theory we have at the moment, in understanding Black Holes and how they work.

In order to understand the objects better, let us look at the Theory of Relativity in detail. You throw a rock, from the surface of a planet, up into the air. Ok, so if you don't throw it too hard it will continue to rise for a bit. Eventually, gravity will take hold, the object will slow down and begin to plummet back down. But, think on this, if you threw the rock hard enough, you could make it escape from the gravity of the planet, entirely. The stone would keep rising forever, with nothing to bring it back down. The speed in which one would have to throw a stone, in order for it to escape the gravity of a planet is called, Escape Velocity.

The Escape Velocity depends entirely on the planet's 'Mass'. It stands to reason that if the planet is a giant, then the gravity would be very very strong, and so if the planet was smaller, obviously the gravity would be weaker. On a giant planet, the Escape Velocity
would be greater, and you would have to throw the stone harder. A smaller planet would have, to a lesser degree, a lighter Escape Velocity.

The Escape Velocity of a planet also depends on how far, or near away from the centre of that planet you are. The closer you are to the centre, the higher the Escape Velocity would be, and vice versa. For example, the Escape Velocity of Planet Earth, is 11.2 kilometres per second. {That is approximately 25-26,000mpm}. In comparasion, the Moon's Escape Velocity is only 2.4 kilometres as second, {which works out as 5300 mph}.

So, you can see the difference right away. It does not take long to work out that if you could imagine an object, with a mass that was enormous, a sort of

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