How are black holes formed? (simple explanation, please!)?

Question

and what are they? thanks!

I know what a supernova is, my uncle is Ian Shelton!!!!!!

Answer 1

The are holes in the space time continuum. They are theoretically formed when a star collapses and becomes so dense that it rips time / space.

Answer 2

Wow, we done this in Physics today. A black hole is formed when a star which is made from gas and dust particles in space are squeezed together by gravity. There is enough mass there so that the gravity is sufficiently strong enough to squeeze the dust and gas together to make a star. If the star is large enough, then it will become a Red Supergiant and at this phase the stars energy will start to become less. The blackhole is whats made after it goes supernova. A black hole is something in space that is so dense that the gravity is so strong that if the earth were to go near the event horizon(thats the area that something can be dragged into the blackhole) it would be crushed inside down to the size of 8mm. The gravity is also so strong that light can not even escape a blackhole and light is the fastest thing ever.

Hope this helped, its a bit long winded. But its difficult to explain easily. =S

Answer 3

A black hole forms when an collapsing object becomes so dense, it's escape velocity exceeds the speed of light. For this to happen, an object must contract to a critical size called it's Schawrzchild radius. Once it becomes smaller than that, light cannot escape from it and the object seals itself off from the rest of the universe inside an event horizon. Since nothing can move faster than light, nothing can escape from a black hole once it crosses the event horizon. Inside the event horizon, the objects's collapse continues until it's mass is crushed into a single point of zero dimensions, and infinite density. All traits the object had, indeed its matter, are destroyed leaving only charge, spin and mass. Black holes are therefore very simple to describe. The event horizon's size is directly proportional to the mass of the black hole, and a spinning black hole has two event horizons. Simply put more than three solar masses of material into one place without anything to support it against it's own gravity, or crush a smaller mass to a high enough density, a black hole will form. Stars are not the only way a black hole can form. It's thought so much gas crashed together in the cores of young galaxies, it collapsed at once into black holes forming the engines that power quasars seen in telescopes today. Some astronomers also believe the Big Bang created countless mini-black holes as well, with masses comparable to mountains, planets or other objects smaller than a stellar mass black hole.

Answer 4

A black hole is produced when a very massive star runs out of fuel. When the energy of fusion stops, the explosive energy keeping the star "inflated" at it's present size ends, and there's nothing but it's immense gravity acting on it's mass. The star collapses, creating a super-dense mass, and a massive explosion - blowing OUT huge amounts of matter, while at the same time, compressing an extremely massive core.

What happens to the core is based on the mass of the star and the force of the explosion. If the core is compressed such that the electrons and protons of it's atoms are merged, you end up with a mass made up of nothing but neutrons - a neutron star. Usually, these spin very rapidly (The Crab Nebula is the end result of a supernova, with a neutron star rotating at about 30 times a second.)

If the force of the explosion and mass is even more powerful, collapse doesn't stop there - it compresses the core down to a dimensionless point in space - a black hole. Surrounding this black hole, is the Event Horizon - a border between the realm of a black hole - where escape velocity is greater than the speed of light, and normal space.

Answer 5

You start with a huge star. The star constantly combines hydrogen with itself to create helium. This is called fusion. Two hydrogens collide and become one helium. After a long, long time, the star runs out of hydrogen. Without the fusion reaction you are left with a big ball of helium just sitting there. If the star is big enough, there is so much gravity that the star collapses in on itself. Even atoms can't resist the tremendous force and the electrons spinning around the the nucleus hurdle inward and collide with the protons making neutrons. Electrons are negative, protons positive, equals neutrally charged particles. So now, the star looks much smaller but it still weighs just as much as it did when it was huge. Think of it like a beach ball deflating. Take all the air out of the ball, it will still weigh the same. Now you have a neutron star. Some stars remain in this state while others have such immense densities that they continue to collapse until there is nowhere to go. Imaging that the beach ball is now the size of a dust speck but is still just as heavy as it was before. This speck is called the singularity.

Now...every planet and star has an escape velocity. This is the speed that something must be traveling to escape that planet or star's gravity. For instance, if you threw a baseball straight up and you wanted it to keep going all the way into space and never fall back down, you would have to throw it at around 20000 miles per hour. If you were standing on an airplane that was 40000 feet in the air, you would have to throw it as fast. This is because the closer you get to the center of the earth, the greater the escape velocity. With a black hole, there is an imaginary line in space around that little speck, the singularity. This line is called the event horizon. This line is the point where the escape velocity is greater than the speed of light. In other words, the gravity at that point is so strong that even light can't escape it. That is why you can only see a black spot. A lot of times, you can't even see the black spot because of all the activity going on around it. That immense gravity pulls in everything around it, mostly gas, and swirls it around at tremendous speeds creating a lot of friction. The friction is so intense that it burns as bright as any star. This gas formation around the black hole is called a quasar. It some ways, a black hole isn't anything but super intense gravity. If there is anything to be seen IN a black hole, we will never see it because that would mean that some light would have to escape. We only know that they are there because we can detect their gravitational pull.

Black holes are fascinating and the science involved is really complicated. You should check out NASA's website and see if they have any simpler explanations. I really tried to make my answer simple but I probably breached that qualifier right around "neutron star."

Answer 6

A black hole is a concentration of gravity so strong that not even light can escape from it. Most black holes are what's left behind when stars much more massive than our own sun end their lives in a violent explosion. The core of these stars collapse so violently and with such intensity that they literally tear a hole in the "fabric" of spacetime. What actually lies at the very heart of a black hole isn't known because all the laws of physics we know simply don't work there. When we try to apply physics equations we get back outrageous solutions, like at the center of a black hole is infinite mass, i.e., all the mass in the universe, contained within zero volume.

Answer 7

Black holes are objects in space that have a huge gravitational force(maybe infinate). this force is so big nothing can escape the black hole, not even light(thats why it is called a "black hole").

They can be formed after a large sun died in what is called a "supernova" which is basicly a very big explosion. Sometimes the gravitational force of that sun manages to pull all the matter back togather into a very dence, reletievly small body with a huge gravitational force.

sorry if I have bad spelling.

Answer 8

Black holes are by definition a singularity.
However how is a singularity formed spontaneously and what material does it contain are they special atoms that we have never seen?
Abhas Mitra indicated in paper on the existence of Black holes.As per this proof in mathemathical terms ,Black holes dont exist any where in the Universe. If this is true ,then there is no way of explaining the formation of something that does not really exist.

Answer 9

An alternative name will tell you what they are - 'gravitationally collapsed stars'.

If a star collapses in on itself (look up stellar life cycles for the whole story) the gravity will get higher and higher as the same mass occupies a smaller and smaller space.

At some point the escape velocity will rise above the speed of light and then you technically have a black hole. It collapses to a point (I disagree with this standard theory you might want to look up 'gravastars' for an alternative idea) which is supposed to have infinite gravity.

Answer 10

Black holes are thought to form from stars or other massive objects if and when they collapse from their own gravity to form an object whose density is infinite: A black hole is a concentration of mass great enough that the force of gravity prevents anything from escaping from it except through quantum tunneling behavior