Black Holes

Lab Brief #5

🎯 Your mission

Understand the idea. Then look for it everywhere.

⚡ The twist

Up there, the rules of down here stop working.

What you'll learn

A black hole is a region in space where gravity is so strong that not even light can escape it. Black holes often form when a very massive star runs out of fuel and collapses at the end of its life.

Key words

event horizon
The boundary around a black hole from within which no light can escape.
escape velocity
The speed needed to break free of a body's gravity; at a black hole's event horizon it exceeds the speed of light.

Make a hypothesis first

Predict: what would happen on the moon vs. on Earth?

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Think about what you just learned: say what "event horizon" and "escape velocity" mean in your own words before you start.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Compare escape velocities: calculate or look up the value for Earth, Jupiter, the Sun and a neutron star, and plot them against the body's mass divided by its radius. Extend the trend to find where escape velocity would reach the speed of light.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Record what actually happened, including anything that did not match what you expected.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Write a conclusion that answers the question this lesson opened with, and state your uncertainty.

Question 1 of 3

Light cannot escape from inside a black hole's event horizon because the escape velocity there:

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

Black holes commonly form when a very massive star:

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

The event horizon of a black hole is:

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🪐 A day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

Next: The Big Bang All lessons

🎯

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✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: Every sunrise and every shadow is this idea in action.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Look at the moon tonight. Notice its shape. Look again in 3 days.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “If you could visit any planet, which would you pick and why?”

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