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Old 10-16-2002, 03:48 PM   #74
JeraalMordeth
Dungeon Master
 

Join Date: July 26, 2002
Location: USA
Posts: 73
Quote:
Also, I understand the math behind the theory that "c" is the absolute universal posted Speed Limit. But, if the force created by a black hole keeps photons from escaping, wouldn't that cause objects falling at the black hole to move greater than the speed of light?

Okay, new HEADACHE
Nope, because of a number of factors in relativity, but the easiest one is to say that the kinetic energy of the object has mass. As you increase the mass of an object its inertia goes up. So even though the curvature of space-time is approaching infinite right near the singularity, the amount required to further accelerate the object also approaches infinite.

Also, just to clarify, the curvature around a black hole is continuos right up to the singularity, and follows all of Newton's laws to the letter. According to Newton an object may be considered as a single point anyway, so if the sun were to collapse into a black hole tommorrow we would never know the difference in terms of gravity. Only the light would be missed.
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