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The concept of existence of black hole has been a head ache for the scientists for many decades and it still continues to be a mystery that our science could find no explanation yet. Albert Einstein in 1916 formulated a theory known as general relativity theory which explains the gravitational force of planets. This theory became the mother of the concept of black holes. It is really interesting to know about these concepts and dilemma it causes among the scientists.
Albert Einstein’s General Relativity Theory
Have you ever wondered what exactly causes the gravitational force? It is obvious that without gravity, it is impossible for anything to exist. Let us take the example of our Earth. What would happen if the gravity ceases to exist for a fraction of second? Earth would deform in to a big cloud of dust, because it is the gravity that gives the Earth its shape. Isn’t this interesting to know that the basic requirement for our life is not oxygen, but the gravity? Because without oxygen we could live for few seconds and without gravity we would die within a fraction of a second.
In simple words, General relativity theory can be illustrated as shown in the picture below:
According to this concept, the universe is like a net that stretches down when a planet with some mass is placed on it. So, when an object weighing 100 pound is placed on to it, it stretches more, compared to an objects weighing 10 pounds, right? That explains the difference between gravity experienced in different planets. So, we can say that the gravity experienced is directly proportional to the total mass of the planet.
Now you have a clear picture of gravity, right? Now let’s try to understand the concept of a Black hole according to this theory.
Black hole according to General relativity theory
A black hole is formed when a star or an object with sufficient mass is formed in the universe that can break the net-like universe. It occurs when a star reaches its end of life cycle. As we know, in our sun, two hydrogen atoms are fused together to form a single Helium atom. During this process, massive amounts of energy and radiation are produced. We get this energy in form of sun light. This happens in all the stars.
As this process continues, the mass of such stars keeps on increasing. When it reaches its threshold to break this net-like universe, the star is said to be in its end of life cycle.
When this happens it becomes a black hole and it absorbs everything, including the light and the radiation. No particle engulfed in it can escape because of the excessive force it endures as a result of this pulling back. Scientists have no explanation regarding what happens to the particles that enters into a black hole. Here starts the dilemma and confusion regarding black holes.
The unresolved mysteries
Since a black hole absorbs everything including light and radiation, it is neither possible to see them nor understand them. So the existence of such black holes can be proved only in theory. Since it resembles the ‘perfect black bodies’ in thermodynamics, we cannot say that they are even black. We cannot just see them.
Black holes can be proved only through math and equations. As the scientists progress through their equations, the end result they get is infinite value of mass. Infinite values in physics cannot exist unlike in mathematics. That again causes great confusions among the scientists.
As believed, at the centre of this large black hole, there is a state of being known as singularity. That means at the centre, there is a single point with zero volume. It becomes a bizarre idea because we have not seen anything with a zero volume, because it just means that it does not exist!
In spite of all these confusions, scientists have evidence that black hole actually exists. They just cannot understand what it is. It is believed that at the centre of each galaxy there is a black hole. In our own galaxy, the ‘milky way’ it is identified that a large super massive black hole exists. It is also believed that, these black holes determine the rotation motion of planets and the stars in the universe.
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