bad,astronomer,phil,plait,black,holes,gravity Bad Astronomer - Why do black holes have so much gravity?

Bad Astronomer - Why do black holes have so much gravity?

published by dbalsdon

5 months 2 weeks ago • 3269 views

tags: bad, astronomer, phil, plait, black, holes, gravity

bookmarks (0)

You should also watch
“Hubblecast 15 (in HD!) - Black Hole in Omega Centauri”

Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer, explains why a black hole has so much gravity.

Comments

I don't trust bald people.

written by blankfist

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ 6 ▼ | flag spam (0)

I don't think that "astronomy/physics for everyone" is a good idea. Abandon hope now that a significant percentage of any sample of humans are going to ever understand what this means.

written by Zor | 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ -4 ▼ | flag spam (0)

Because it's so dinky is what makes it so powerful.

Well, that oughta shut up my girlfriend.

written by kronosposeidon

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

★▲ 23 ▼ | flag spam (0)

I don't trust people with crotch shots for their avatar.

written by T-man

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ 9 ▼ | flag spam (0)

Not a great explanation.

written by budzos

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ -1 ▼ | flag spam (0)

Upvote for the dinky.

written by Majortomyorke

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ 0 ▼ | flag spam (0)

>> ^budzos:
Not a great explanation.

He would lose his target audience if he were to get technical. Someone has to explain this stuff at this level for most people to have any grasp of it at all. In a country (United States) where a majority believes we lived alongside dinosaurs, this guy is the first line of defense.

written by nibiyabi

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ 3 ▼ | flag spam (0)

I wish this guy was my astronomy teacher. It would be fun to answer "Cause it's dinky" on a test =)

written by SSIops | 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ 4 ▼ | flag spam (0)

Yay, science for everyone.

written by gwiz665

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ 1 ▼ | flag spam (0)

>> ^budzos:
Not a great explanation.

It's a perfect explanation, gravity is a function of distance, object is smaller, therefore you can get closer, therefore gravity increases (exponentially).

written by Irishman

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ 3 ▼ | flag spam (0)

I don't believe in Gravity. It is just a 'theory' after all. I think we orbit the Sun because God tied an ethereal chain to the Earth and Sun. Forever linking the two bodies together.

Magic is real too.

written by honkeytonk73

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ 8 ▼ | flag spam (0)

He should talk to this guy

http://www.videosift.com/video/Idiot-Judge-Says-Black-Hole-is-Racist

written by Lurch

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ 0 ▼ | flag spam (0)

"He should talk to this guy

http://www.videosift.com/video/Idiot-Judge-Says-Black-Hole-is-Racist "

Yeah. He has blogged about that story a few times IIRC.

written by dbalsdon

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ 0 ▼ | flag spam (0)

Gravity is such a weak force that the electromagnetic force in a tiny magnet can lift up a paperclip, far overwhelming the gravity from the Earths entire 6,600 _billion_ _billion_ _tons_ of mass.

written by deathcow

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ 2 ▼ | flag spam (0)

It's a perfect explanation, gravity is a function of distance, object is smaller, therefore you can get closer, therefore gravity increases (exponentially).

Do you think that was explained clearly?

written by budzos

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ 0 ▼ | flag spam (0)

His explanation could be a bit better. The key to the answer to the viewer's question is that the universe doesn't recognize macro objects like stars, planets, etc; as far as gravity is concerned it's all just particles. He comes close to this when he talks about getting closer to the black hole because it's smaller, but he should have taken it a step further. If you were standing on the surface of a star, only some of the particles that make up that star would be close to you, most of them hundreds of thousands to millions of miles away from you. Since gravity's strength is dependent on distance, those far away particles would have relatively little effect on you. If you were standing on the surface of a black hole, those particles would all be only a couple miles at most away from you. That's ignoring the issue of what a black hole is really made of, which isn't relavent here; to be more accurate we could just replace of the concept of "x number of particles" with "x amount of mass".

That said, Phil Plait is good stuff. I check his blog daily.

written by sineral

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ 2 ▼ | flag spam (0)

>> ^deathcow:
Gravity is such a weak force that the electromagnetic force in a tiny magnet can lift up a paperclip, far overwhelming the gravity from the Earths entire 6,600 _billion_ _billion_ _tons_ of mass.

Actually... the magnet can do that only because its dinky.

written by Payback

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ 1 ▼ | flag spam (0)

>> ^budzos:
Not a great explanation.

I concur. It's not just that you're getting 'closer to the object', he should specify that it's because every particle in that object, each containing its own gravity, is now closer to you. Saying that you just have to be closer makes it sound like if you were touching or at the center of the Sun, you'd get as much gravity as being right outside of a black hole of the same mass, which isn't the case. Someone of a technical mind may understand this without explanation, but unfortunately the average Joe/Jane probably wouldn't. To them, closer generally ends at touching, but sometimes include being inside the object. Either way it isn't good enough to just use the words 'closer to the object'.

written by wax66

| 5 months 2 weeks ago | CH

▲ 0 ▼ | flag spam (0)

Submit Comment

playlists with this video

Science Stuff by R0SENCRANTZ • Nature, science, geek, and how to by kronosposeidon

• Nerdy by karkarlee

who voted for this video

dbalsdon

- Zonbie