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What Happens to Matter Which Falls Into a Black Hole?

-- | December 14, 2015

Question: So i was reading an article on black holes and i came across hawking saying matter which falls into black holes get destroyed,and it is a paradox as matter can neither be destroyed or created but transformed. So a doubt was nagging me…. If matter cant be destroyed then how will a star which explodes or dies be converted into something like a black hole which is no kind of matter unless it is a transformed form of the star’s mass and energy. And isn’t it possible that a matter which falls into black hole be converted to this same form of energy (in form of gravitational pull) instead of being destroyed or pulled into another galaxy?

Answer: The outcome of matter which falls into a black hole is largely a matter of speculation. You can read a nice summary of what happens to matter as it approaches then enters a black hole at the Astronomy Cafe article on this subject. The major problem with any theory which postulates the properties of matter which falls into a black hole is that there are few observable quantities to guide such theories.

Jeff Mangum

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