Planets collapsing into black holes?

In summary, changing the gravity constant to a value 500 million times larger would result in a significantly larger schwarzschild radius, approximately 60-70% the radius of the planet itself. This would cause the planet to immediately start collapsing and the strength of gravity required for this to happen would be immense. The value of GM/c2 is half of 2GM/c2, which is known as the gravitational radius and is half the size of the schwarzschild radius. However, there is nothing inherently special about the number 2 in this context.
  • #1
Lamdbaenergy
35
1
If you had a planet with the exact same mass and radius as the Earth, and adjusted the gravity constant to some value five-hundred million times larger, the schwarzschild radius should become considerably big, right? Instead of being about 8 millimeters, it would now be about 60 to 70 percent the radius of the body itself. So would this cause the planet to start collapsing immediately, and just how strong would the gravity have to be to cause the surface of the planet to start falling in on itself?
Also, what does GM/c2 mean compared to 2GM/c2?

I totally know that changing the gravity constant is impossible, let alone to that ridiculously high value.
 
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  • #2
Yes, if you plug in a different and unphysical value for G, you get a different and unphysical value for R.

Lamdbaenergy said:
Also, what does GM/c2 mean compared to 2GM/c2?

It's half as big. (I think we're missing some context here)
 
  • #3
Vanadium 50 said:
Yes, if you plug in a different and unphysical value for G, you get a different and unphysical value for R.
It's half as big. (I think we're missing some context here)

Why does the schwarzschild radius have to be twice as big as GM/c2? Is GM/c2 another special kind of radius that is always half the length of the schwarzschild radius? Thanks.
 
  • #4
I don't think there is anything special about the 2.
 
  • #5
Never mind the GM/c2 part. I found out that it is called a gravitational radius and it is half as large as the black hole.
 

FAQ: Planets collapsing into black holes?

1. What causes a planet to collapse into a black hole?

A planet can collapse into a black hole when it runs out of fuel to sustain nuclear fusion in its core. As the core collapses under its own gravity, it becomes denser and hotter, eventually forming a singularity and creating a black hole.

2. Can any planet collapse into a black hole?

No, not all planets have the necessary mass and density to collapse into a black hole. Only planets with a mass at least three times that of the Sun can potentially become black holes.

3. Will Earth ever collapse into a black hole?

No, Earth does not have enough mass to collapse into a black hole. Even if all of Earth's mass were compressed into a single point, it would still not be enough to create a black hole.

4. What happens to the other objects in a planetary system when a planet collapses into a black hole?

When a planet collapses into a black hole, the other objects in the planetary system will continue to orbit the black hole as they did before. However, their orbits may be altered due to the change in the gravitational pull of the black hole.

5. Can a planet orbit a black hole?

Yes, a planet can orbit a black hole, just as it would orbit a star. However, the orbit would need to be at a safe distance to avoid being pulled into the black hole's intense gravity.

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