What Happens When Water Meets a Black Hole?

AI Thread Summary
When water surrounds a black hole, it will ultimately be drawn in due to the black hole's gravitational pull. The discussion highlights that water behaves differently in the extreme environment of a black hole, where typical pressures do not apply. It is clarified that water is not incompressible; rather, it can change states under extreme conditions. The conversation emphasizes that all materials, including water, respond differently in the context of a black hole compared to Earth. Ultimately, the nature of water in this scenario is less about incompressibility and more about the effects of intense gravitational forces.
Max Rosner
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What would happen if you surrounded a black hole with water?
 
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Max Rosner said:
What would happen if you surrounded a black hole with water?
the water would fall into the black hole
 
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OK, little bit of background here, I thought it would! I was having a discussion with a friend who was talking about how water is incomprehensible, so if you surrounded a black hole with water only some of it would be sucked in. I decided to seek the internet's advice. Sorry but I do not have a super in depth knowledge of this area so I apologize for any mistakes I make. Thanks!
 
Max Rosner said:
OK, little bit of background here, I thought it would! I was having a discussion with a friend who was talking about how water is incomprehensible, so if you surrounded a black hole with water only some of it would be sucked in. I decided to seek the internet's advice. Sorry but I do not have a super in depth knowledge of this area so I apologize for any mistakes I make. Thanks!
I assume that rather than incomprehensible, you mean non-compressible, since water isn't all that hard to understand :smile: You are thinking of pressures like those found in normal objects such as Earth. Black holes aren't like that.
 
phinds said:
I assume that rather than incomprehensible, you mean non-compressible, since water isn't all that hard to understand :smile: You are thinking of pressures like those found in normal objects such as Earth. Black holes aren't like that.
Much appreciated. So water would behave differently in the environment of a black hole?
 
Max Rosner said:
Much appreciated. So water would behave differently in the environment of a black hole?
EVERYTHING behaves differently in a black hole.
 
Also, if you compress water "hard" enough, you will get ice (even at room temperature).
 
jaydnul said:
Also, if you compress water "hard" enough, you will get ice (even at room temperature).
This still is talking about the kind of pressure that exists on Earth or that can be made by man. This simply is not comparable to a black hole.
 
Water is much more compressible than many solids. So there is nothing special about considering water instead of rocks or pieces of metal.
There is no known material which is "in-compressible". Starting from a wrong premise, the question does not have substance.
 
  • #10
I don't see why even assuming the water is incompressible means anything to the question. If it is a ring of water in orbit, it [boils, freezes, sublimates and] orbits the black hole. A non-rotating sphere of water, it [boils, freezes, sublimates and] falls into the black hole. Is getting crushed really what the OP is about?
 
  • #11
Cool, thanks guys!
 

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