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YZEDY1one
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Hi, Physics Forum!
I've been wondering what would happen in the following thought experiment. I am not physicist and may have made some incorrect assumptions. Please explain if any of these assumptions are wrong.
What would happen if you threw a piece of (very long and strong) rope into a black hole? If I stood outside the black hole, how fast would I observe the rope to go after time 't'? Surely if nothing can exit the event horizon once it has entered, the force exerted on the rope is near infinite, leading to an infinite acceleration? Is the issue with this, the assumption that a rope that is strong enough to withstand this force is even possible? What would be the limiting factor, at what point would the rope snap?
Also, couldn't you connect one end of the rope to a generator (assuming long long rope) and drop the other end into the black hole (spinning the generator). How much power could you potentially generate, what would be the limit? If the force required to pull the rope out of the event horizon is infinite, surely the energy requirement is infinite? I don't believe it would create energy but could it at least be in theory an efficient way to generate energy from a given mass of rope?
Thanks!
I've been wondering what would happen in the following thought experiment. I am not physicist and may have made some incorrect assumptions. Please explain if any of these assumptions are wrong.
What would happen if you threw a piece of (very long and strong) rope into a black hole? If I stood outside the black hole, how fast would I observe the rope to go after time 't'? Surely if nothing can exit the event horizon once it has entered, the force exerted on the rope is near infinite, leading to an infinite acceleration? Is the issue with this, the assumption that a rope that is strong enough to withstand this force is even possible? What would be the limiting factor, at what point would the rope snap?
Also, couldn't you connect one end of the rope to a generator (assuming long long rope) and drop the other end into the black hole (spinning the generator). How much power could you potentially generate, what would be the limit? If the force required to pull the rope out of the event horizon is infinite, surely the energy requirement is infinite? I don't believe it would create energy but could it at least be in theory an efficient way to generate energy from a given mass of rope?
Thanks!