Question about Black Holes and Speed

In summary, according to relativity theory, an object entering a black hole would have an acceleration which would never exceed the speed of light, but would approach it as it falls into the black hole.
  • #1
Paragon_X
2
0
Hello everyone this is my first post. I just recently started getting interested in physics but just from a very theoritical view and in very simple ways

My problem goes like this:
As far as i am concerned according to Relativity Theory nothing can go faster than light. So then we have the gravity which accelerates objects. So if a Black Hole has unlimited gravity then an object entering its event horizon wouldn't have unlimited acceleration which would evolve into unlimited speed?

thanks in advance!
 
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  • #2
Paragon_X said:
So if a Black Hole has unlimited gravity then an object entering its event horizon wouldn't have unlimited acceleration which would evolve into unlimited speed?
It's not true in relativity that unlimited acceleration leads to unlimited speed.

One way to see this is through relativistic velocity addition. If you accelerate in a spaceship by 0.1000c, then by 0.1000c relative to your immediately preceding speed of 0.1000c, then by another 0.1000c relative to that, you don't get 0.3000c, you get 0.2922c. If you continue like this, you never get to c, even though your accelerometer has some high reading for an unlimited length of time.

In your black hole example, the accelerometer attached to the object falling into the black hole will actually read zero at all times.
 
  • #3
Welcome to PF!

Hello Paragon_X! Welcome to PF! :smile:
Paragon_X said:
… have unlimited acceleration which would evolve into unlimited speed?

From good ol' https://www.physicsforums.com/library.php?do=view_item&itemid=26"

so unlimited acceleration does lead to unlimited momentum

but momentum is "relativistic mass" times velocity,

and unlimited momentum gives unlimited "relativistic mass", but limited velocity. :wink:
 
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  • #4
One can see from the relativistic rocket equations http://www.xs4all.nl/~johanw/PhysFAQ/Relativity/SR/rocket.html that one can accelerate indefinitely without exceeding the speed of light.

For an object falling into a black hole, you can measure the velocity as it passes by a static observer stationary with respect to the black hole, and you'll always get a number less than c. In the limiting case, the number will approach c as the object nears the event horizon, but it will never quite reach 'c'.

To be specific, if the object free-falls from zero velocity at infinity, the velocity will be c*sqrt(r/r_s), where r / r_s is the ratio of the Schwarzschild r coordinate of the observer and the Schwarzschild radius.

You cannot have a stationary observer exactly at the event horizon, though you can get one arbitrarily close. Thus you'll never measure a velocity greater than or equal to 'c' as an object falls into a black hole from any other physical observer, though you can approach 'c' arbitrarily closely.
 
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  • #5
Thank you all ! i know get it !
 

1. What is a black hole and how does it form?

A black hole is a region in space where the gravitational pull is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape from it. It is formed when a massive star dies and its core collapses under its own gravity.

2. How fast do objects travel in a black hole?

The speed at which objects travel in a black hole depends on their distance from the center. The closer an object is to the center, the faster it will travel. At the center of a black hole, known as the singularity, the speed is believed to be infinite.

3. Can anything escape from a black hole?

Anything that crosses the event horizon, the point of no return, of a black hole is unable to escape. However, some theories suggest that information may be able to escape through a process called Hawking radiation.

4. How do we measure the speed of a black hole?

The speed of a black hole is often measured using its event horizon, the point where the escape velocity equals the speed of light. This can be determined by measuring the mass and size of the black hole.

5. How do black holes affect time and space?

According to Einstein's theory of relativity, time and space are affected by the intense gravitational pull of a black hole. Time slows down and space is distorted near a black hole, leading to phenomena such as gravitational lensing.

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