Question about Black Holes and Speed

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the nature of black holes, specifically addressing the concepts of gravity, acceleration, and the speed of objects as they approach a black hole's event horizon, framed within the context of Relativity Theory.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that if a black hole has unlimited gravity, then an object entering its event horizon would experience unlimited acceleration, potentially leading to unlimited speed.
  • Another participant counters that in relativity, unlimited acceleration does not equate to unlimited speed, citing the relativistic velocity addition formula as evidence.
  • A third participant notes that while unlimited acceleration can lead to unlimited momentum, the velocity remains limited due to relativistic effects.
  • Further, it is mentioned that an object falling into a black hole will always have a measured velocity less than the speed of light, even as it approaches the event horizon.
  • Specific calculations are provided regarding the velocity of an object falling into a black hole, indicating it approaches the speed of light but never reaches it.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the relationship between acceleration and speed in the context of black holes, indicating that multiple competing views remain without a consensus on the implications of unlimited gravity and acceleration.

Contextual Notes

Some participants reference relativistic equations and concepts, but the discussion does not resolve the underlying assumptions or definitions regarding acceleration and speed in the context of black holes.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those exploring theoretical physics, particularly in understanding the implications of relativity in extreme gravitational fields like those of black holes.

Paragon_X
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Hello everyone this is my first post. I just recently started getting interested in physics but just from a very theoretical 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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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.
 
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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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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Thank you all ! i know get it !
 

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