- #1
lntz
- 54
- 0
Hey,
So i just read 2 articles, the first talked about the mathematical problem of 'packing', IE how many smaller objects of the same size can fit inside a shape without overlapping or covering the boundaries of the shape. and the second article was talking about a recent neutron star that was discovered to be 2.04 times the mass of the sun. It was suggested that a neutron star shouldn't be able to get this heavy without becoming ablack hole.
So my knowledge on this stuff is fairly limited, so please bear with me. (i'm currently doing my A-Levels). my ideas will probably come across as very 'classical' since that is what i am most familiar with.
So if i have a regular solid object, say a lump of iron, i might say that it can not be compressed. The atoms are packed together tightly, and don't 'want' to get any closer to one another. at a guess i'd attribute this to the strong nuclear force not being able to overcome electro-static repulsion. I understand that within an object such as a star, gravity is a massive force, but does it simply push these atoms closer together? or is there something else going on? what i read about packing also said that it may be possible for atoms to 'overlap'... also I've read the term 'collapse of an atom'. what does that mean?
Sorry for the long winded question, but i would really appreciate any help you can give me on this.
Thanks inadvance :)
So i just read 2 articles, the first talked about the mathematical problem of 'packing', IE how many smaller objects of the same size can fit inside a shape without overlapping or covering the boundaries of the shape. and the second article was talking about a recent neutron star that was discovered to be 2.04 times the mass of the sun. It was suggested that a neutron star shouldn't be able to get this heavy without becoming ablack hole.
So my knowledge on this stuff is fairly limited, so please bear with me. (i'm currently doing my A-Levels). my ideas will probably come across as very 'classical' since that is what i am most familiar with.
So if i have a regular solid object, say a lump of iron, i might say that it can not be compressed. The atoms are packed together tightly, and don't 'want' to get any closer to one another. at a guess i'd attribute this to the strong nuclear force not being able to overcome electro-static repulsion. I understand that within an object such as a star, gravity is a massive force, but does it simply push these atoms closer together? or is there something else going on? what i read about packing also said that it may be possible for atoms to 'overlap'... also I've read the term 'collapse of an atom'. what does that mean?
Sorry for the long winded question, but i would really appreciate any help you can give me on this.
Thanks inadvance :)