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Fiziqs
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Ok, although I had hoped to avoid having to ask a stupid question, it seems as though I'm just too dense to figure this one out on my own. Generally I can, with the help of Google, and the combined wisdom of the internet, deduce an answer. But either Google, the internet, or my brain has failed me this time.
So I'm going to ask a stupid question.
How can anything cross the event horizon of a black hole?
Of course I've found what I assume to be the accepted answer to this question on the internet, but it just doesn't make sense to me. If time slows down as an object approaches the event horizon of a black hole, to the point where the object never actually appears to cross said horizon. How can it ever cross it?
The only answer that I've been able to find, is that the object only appears to slow down from the perspective of an outside observer. From the objects own perspective nothing changes. It goes sailing right through the event horizon without barely noticing.
But, I always thought that the time differential between the observer and the object wasn't just one of perspective, but that time actually does slow down for the object. As in the twin paradox where one twin goes off in a FTL spaceship, and then returns months later to find that his twin is many years older. It wasn't that time simply appeared to slow down for the twin in the spaceship. But that time actually did slow down. For the twin in the spaceship, time did slow down relative to his brother. It wasn't just a matter of perspective. Time really, really does slow down.
If I then extrapolate this out to my black hole problem, time actually does slow down for the object approaching the event horizon of a black hole, relative to an outside observer. It's not just an illusion. If we compare clocks, one for the observer, and one for the object, we would find that indeed the object's clock has almost come to a complete stop. The object would percieve that it's still moving, and that its clock is still running normally, but it's not.
Just like the twin paradox, it's not just that time appears to slow down, it really does.
Ok, I'm smart enough to know that there's a flaw in my reasoning, but I don't know what it is. So can someone explain this to me in simple terms that I can understand.
I would greatly appreciate it, because this is bugging the heck out of me.
Thanks
So I'm going to ask a stupid question.
How can anything cross the event horizon of a black hole?
Of course I've found what I assume to be the accepted answer to this question on the internet, but it just doesn't make sense to me. If time slows down as an object approaches the event horizon of a black hole, to the point where the object never actually appears to cross said horizon. How can it ever cross it?
The only answer that I've been able to find, is that the object only appears to slow down from the perspective of an outside observer. From the objects own perspective nothing changes. It goes sailing right through the event horizon without barely noticing.
But, I always thought that the time differential between the observer and the object wasn't just one of perspective, but that time actually does slow down for the object. As in the twin paradox where one twin goes off in a FTL spaceship, and then returns months later to find that his twin is many years older. It wasn't that time simply appeared to slow down for the twin in the spaceship. But that time actually did slow down. For the twin in the spaceship, time did slow down relative to his brother. It wasn't just a matter of perspective. Time really, really does slow down.
If I then extrapolate this out to my black hole problem, time actually does slow down for the object approaching the event horizon of a black hole, relative to an outside observer. It's not just an illusion. If we compare clocks, one for the observer, and one for the object, we would find that indeed the object's clock has almost come to a complete stop. The object would percieve that it's still moving, and that its clock is still running normally, but it's not.
Just like the twin paradox, it's not just that time appears to slow down, it really does.
Ok, I'm smart enough to know that there's a flaw in my reasoning, but I don't know what it is. So can someone explain this to me in simple terms that I can understand.
I would greatly appreciate it, because this is bugging the heck out of me.
Thanks
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