If I go to the event horizon, I get spaghettified right? How does that not mean I am being spaghettified (ever so slightly) right now?
In: 1
Spaghettification doesn’t actually have anything to do with the event horizon. You’d be spaghettified long before it if falling into a small black hole, and well after if falling into a supermassive one.
But to answer your question: you are. Spaghettification is an effect of *tidal force* – that is, it’s the result of the fact that (if you’re falling feet-first), your feet are closer to the center of the hole than your head is. As a result, the tug on your feet is stronger than the tug on your head, which creates a net stretching force along the length of your body. This tidal force exists around any object, and it’s even relevant on the scale of planets or moons (by, for example, being the cause of tides – hence the name).
The reason this doesn’t harm you is that the tidal force here on the surface of the Earth is very small. You’re about 6,000 km, or 6,000,000 m, from the center of the earth, and only about 2 m tall. That means the difference in gravity – the difference between 1/6000 km squared and 1/(6000 km + 2 m) squared – is tiny, and therefore so is the tidal force on your body. For a 70 kg human standing on the Earth’s surface, the force is on the order of piconewtons, meaning the force pulling your body apart is weaker than a typical single chemical bond in a single molecule. Needless to say, your body’s structural strength is a lot bigger than that.
Latest Answers