Units for Entropy of Simple Black Holes

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In summary, the entropy of a simple black hole is proportional to the area of its event horizon divided by the gravitational constant.
  • #1
muzukashi suginaiyo
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Hello. I recently discovered Gerard 't Hooft's (what a complicated name to type, isn't it?*apostrophe*apostrophe*apostrophe) equation for the entropy of a simple black hole (what is meant by "simple" I have no idea). It is:

Where "S" is the entropy of a simple black hole
A is the area of the black hole's event horizon
h is (reduced?) Planck's Constant
G is the gravitational constant

S = A/(4hG)

Unless there is a conversion constant missing in this equation (is there?), I get units for entropy as (s^3)/(m^3).

That is,

Entropy = [m^2]/[(kg*m^2/s)*(m^3/kg*s^2)]

= seconds cubed per meters cubed? What does this signify? Is there some "speed" associated with entropy such that entropy is inversely proportional to the cube of this "speed"?

Or am I way off track here?
 
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  • #2
I've never heard of entropy referred to in ##\frac {s^3} {m^3}##. Generally it's given as ##\frac J K##.
 
  • #3
muzukashi suginaiyo said:
Hello. I recently discovered Gerard 't Hooft's (what a complicated name to type, isn't it?*apostrophe*apostrophe*apostrophe) equation for the entropy of a simple black hole (what is meant by "simple" I have no idea). It is:

Where "S" is the entropy of a simple black hole
A is the area of the black hole's event horizon
h is (reduced?) Planck's Constant
G is the gravitational constant

S = A/(4hG)

Unless there is a conversion constant missing in this equation (is there?), I get units for entropy as (s^3)/(m^3).

That is,

Entropy = [m^2]/[(kg*m^2/s)*(m^3/kg*s^2)]

= seconds cubed per meters cubed? What does this signify? Is there some "speed" associated with entropy such that entropy is inversely proportional to the cube of this "speed"?

Or am I way off track here?
You're missing a factor of ##k_B c^3##. The three factors of ##c## cancel out the ##s^3/m^3##, while the Boltzmann constant ##k_B## has units of energy per unit temperature (typically J/K, as TJGilb mentioned). You can see this at the Wikipedia page here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole_thermodynamics
 
  • #4
Ah. Okay. So there was a couple constants missing. Thanks.
 

Related to Units for Entropy of Simple Black Holes

1. What is the unit for entropy of simple black holes?

The unit for entropy of simple black holes is the Boltzmann constant (k).

2. Why is the entropy of black holes important?

The entropy of black holes is important because it provides valuable information about the thermodynamic properties of black holes, such as their temperature and energy.

3. How is the entropy of black holes calculated?

The entropy of black holes is calculated using the Bekenstein-Hawking formula, which states that the entropy is equal to one-quarter of the horizon area of the black hole divided by the Boltzmann constant.

4. Can the entropy of black holes be negative?

No, the entropy of black holes cannot be negative. It is a measure of disorder and cannot be less than zero.

5. How does the entropy of black holes relate to the information paradox?

The information paradox refers to the conflict between the laws of thermodynamics and the theory of quantum mechanics in regards to information being lost in a black hole. The entropy of black holes plays a crucial role in resolving this paradox as it suggests that the information inside a black hole is encoded on its event horizon, thus not lost forever.

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