LHC to start high energy 'God Particle' hunt

Well considering that in a Black Hole the gravity gets so great that the escape velocity of it exceeds 186,000 miles per second (300,000 kilometres per second), which is the speed of light and since this means that light can't escape it's attraction, I would say yes, you'll get sucked in. Does this make it any clearer? This is misleading. Any black hole created by the LHC would be terrifically tiny. Remember that gravitational force of an object is directly linked to its mass, and what we're dealing with here is a particle or two. There simply isn't enough mass/energy there for any big gravita... [More]

It seems like lots of people have lots of misconceptions about black holes. Try to answer this: What would happen to us if the Moon suddenly turned into a black hole? The answer: Nothing. The only difference it would make is that we wouldn't be able to see the Moon any more, and obviously landing on it would be a very stupid idea. Other than that, the black hole-Moon would exert exactly the same gravity on us as the regular Moon does. Gravity is dependent on mass, and mass alone. Scrunching the Moon into a black hole size would not change its orbit or anything else. Similarly, if the LHC creat... [More]

Thank you for the scientific reassurances everyone.

It seems like lots of people have lots of misconceptions about black holes. Try to answer this: What would happen to us if the Moon suddenly turned into a black hole? The answer: Nothing. The only difference it would make is that we wouldn't be able to see the Moon any more, and obviously landing on it would be a very stupid idea. Other than that, the black hole-Moon would exert exactly the same gravity on us as the regular Moon does. Gravity is dependent on mass, and mass alone. Scrunching the Moon into a black hole size would not change its orbit or anything else. Similarly, if the LHC creat... [More]

I think the Vatican has already found "mini" black holes. :angry2: i like your style!

I thought black holes were infinitely small because of the amount of gravity they have everything is crushed down into an infinitely small space. I'd love to learn more about these kinds of things, so interesting!!

I thought black holes were infinitely small because of the amount of gravity they have everything is crushed down into an infinitely small space. I'd love to learn more about these kinds of things, so interesting!! The volume they occupy is infinitely small, but the amount of mass that's crammed in to that infinitely small volume can vary from one black hole to another. The greater the mass (the 'heavier' it is) the greater the gravitational attraction.

I thought black holes were infinitely small because of the amount of gravity they have everything is crushed down into an infinitely small space. I'd love to learn more about these kinds of things, so interesting!! Just to add to what Raptor said, the `size' of a black hole is usually described as the minimum safe distance you can get to the black hole. The actual black hole is infinitesimally small, as Raptor said, but how close you can get to the black hole before getting sucked in depends on the black hole mass. This distance is called the Schwarzchild Radius, and is given by: rs = (1.48 x ... [More]

Oh dear, I do wish they wouldn't insist on trying to interfere with things that they don't understand. It makes me uneasy, I can tell you. So what will they do supposing they do find the God Particle? I bet they'll then start trying to find things they can do with it, and that'll only lead to trouble, you mark my words. Yeah, trying to understand things we don't understand is folly. We should all still be living in caves and wallowing in our own filth.

Just to add to what Raptor said, the `size' of a black hole is usually described as the minimum safe distance you can get to the black hole. The actual black hole is infinitesimally small, as Raptor said, but how close you can get to the black hole before getting sucked in depends on the black hole mass. This distance is called the Schwarzchild Radius, and is given by: rs = (1.48 x 10-27 m/kg) mBH Where rs is the distance (in metres) and mBH is the mass of the black hole (in kilograms). For example, if I suddenly got turned into a black hole, you could get within ~1.2 x 10-25 m of me and still... [More]