Gotta Love Kid Questions ...

[CraigS]

So, I was driving a (just) nine year old somewhere the other day and she was squinting because the Sun was in her eyes. The following happens whilst I'm driving through busy peak-hour traffic:

9 Year old: : "Why is the Sun so bright ?"

Me: "Well .. the Sun burns hydrogen. Hydrogen is a fuel .. like wood .. and hydrogen burns brightly"

9 Year old: "The Sun burns everything".

Me: "Hmmm .. well .. yeah.."

9 Year old: "Does the Sun burn black holes ?"

Me:: "Hmmmmmm …. err …. um … well, I think it would be around the other way … the black hole would suck the Sun into it."

9 Year old: "Yeah, but would the Sun would burn it ?"

Me: "No .. I think the black hole would burn parts of the Sun before it eats the Sun."

9 Year old: "I dunno … I think you'd better ask those people on that website you're always writing on .. will you do it for me and tell me what they say?"

Me: "<Grumble, grumble> ….. Ok …"

9 Year old: And can you tell me the answer next time I see you … this is important ?!!

:lol: :lol: :)

Ha ! .. gotta laugh !
I just love it !

I've now done what I agreed to do ! :)
Its over to you folks, now !
(Thank goodness !)
:)

Cheers

[TrevorW]

print this and say No!!

http://www.ias.ac.in/jarch/jaa/20/269-280.pdf

[erick]

OK, so the black hole "burns" the Sun rather than vice versa. But I want to see what the 9-year old's response is to the "ant sneezing in the vicinity of a black hole" :D

[bartman]

????? you couldn't give her an answer?



Sorry but I have to say this.... she has no confidence in your answer????;););););););););)



I'm sure you have formulated an answer already:D, but my answer would be that the suction of the black hole would have extinguished the flames on the surface of the sun so that the black hole could sip the Hydrogen into its guts.
Like a cup of hot tea being cooled by the subduction ( mmmm not sure on that word but correct me if I'm wrong please...-by blowing on it and causing a vacuum therefore carrying away hot air) of air - so that it can then be consumed.
So therefore the Sun will not burn the Black Hole.....
My thesis on Black Hole vs. Sun Screen will be due out soon ....

:sunny:

Bartman

[CraigS]

C'mon Bart .. it was heavy traffic !


.. the story of my life, Bart !


Oh boy … now there's some big news !! … I can't wait !
Where can I get a copy ?
:)
Cheers

[CraigS]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

'Twas a question which caught me off guard … particularly as I had to think and divert my attention from the traffic chaos !

Erik:
I'm not sure I can explain the question, that seems to be the really hard part ! Does a nine year old know what instability means ? How do you explain that to 'em ?
:lol: :)

Cheers

[Suzy]

:scared2: Craig speechless??? What tha?
You mean, someone actually did it and it was a 9 year old? :scared2:
Oh boy, she's smarter than all of us put together. :question:

Oh hail, o bright and smart 9 year old one. Come join our forum, we will assign you username of "The Great One" :prey2::prey2::prey2:

Ah shucks, sorry Craig, couldn't resist... :scared3:
Such a rare opportunity. :whistle: :lol:

You should have just flung her the blackberry and told her to Wikki it herself. :P:D :lol:
[/I]

[Suzy]

:confuse3:

I'll take a guess at answering the question of "The Great One".

Could be waay off the track but here goes. Actually got me thinking - she's good...! ;)

My wild guess... :computer:
As the star approaches the event horizon- the point of no return, doom city, asta la vista baby, and all that, the black hole slowly draws the star into it by shredding apart and devouring its layers of gas. As the gas is slowly stripped from the star, it's not so hot because it is no longer a compact, dense fuel, element burning object - as it's now become streams of gas that are entering the black hole.
Now, I'm also guessing, there will be no core available either by the time it's outer gases have been shredded, because the events which had taken place earlier would have made the core collapse.

My above post may reflect a grand imagination :question:

Or stupidity :stupid:

Or perhaps the need to read more ..., "Astronomy For Dummies" comes to mind. :question:

Or (by some chance) end up looking really smart if I got it correct :einstein: :D:D:D

[astroron]

I have not answered this thread as I may type myself into a "Black Hole" ;):lol:
Cheers

[CraigS]

Hi Suzy;

You are as persistent as she is !

Kids of this age are awesome. I find they carry no baggage from the past, harbour no grudges, put up no pretenses, and see things as they are. I deeply respect kids for what they’re going through. I listen to what they have to say, and I genuinely, truthfully relish every opportunity I get to talk with them. They are learning machines in action. There is much to learn from the way they see the world.

Thanks for your response. I’ll make sure she sees it.

Oh, and her answer to Erik’s question about the ant sneezing in the vicinity of the black hole was:



Priceless !
:)
Cheers & Thanks.

[tlgerdes]

That black hole eats the sun without getting burned, much the same way a magician or fireeater can put the flaming stick in their mouth, put out the fire and not get burned.:D

Remember it doesnt have to be right, it has to be plausable.

[Suzy]

My persistence brings me back here to post again. :P

So how do we know who he is right? :D

By the way, I forgot to mention earlier that I enjoyed your post on the thread starter, it was very funny:lol:.
"The great one" sounds so utterly sweet and full of character. She sounds waay smart for her age. ;)
A few days ago I had to explain to my older sister that our sun is in fact a star :screwy:.

[Octane]

Suzy,

You would be surprised at how many people don't realise that our sun is a star just like the ones they see (or, don't see?) shining at night.

Sad, eh?

H

[Sylvain]

You just gotta love this post. Awesome :)

[CraigS]

Here's another message from .. 'the Kid':



Pure gold !
:)
Cheers
PS: Err … the first word has to be pronounced 'Uranous' … gets a bit lost in the translation-into-text process.

[spearo]

I'm no expert, I'm barely an amateur...
but I reckon...IF black holes exist,

then Suzy if probably right on the money with her answer.


:)

frank

[renormalised]

It's even worse than that, H. There are a great many people who don't even realise that we orbit the Sun, and the period of time over which that orbit takes to completion. A great many people don't even look up anymore. Most don't even look anywhere, actually, except for what other piece of puerile nonsense is coming on the idiot box.

[bartman]

Well just after watching "Hawkings Paradox" I (me, myself and I) conclude that the Sun will still be the same as it was/is when it entered the Black Hole/ Event Horizon.
However when looking at it from my scope on Earth, it would disappear.
i.e. Being "burnt up"!
But.....from our Sols POV, Sol doesn't feel a thing as time and gravity is/are being distorted!!!!! So it isn't being burn(t)ed by the Black Hole ( from its POV), only in our perception.
What we are seeing- through the scope- (as a star, being burn(t)/ed up) is something in the future. Yet we are 'seeing' a star being gobbled up now!
mmmmmm
So two truths are canceled and we come to a paradox?
From what I can gather , that is what Hawking and Susskind had some issues with.......and Witten thrown in aswell....... still watching some videos regarding all this..........

Hope this helps your .....Hey!!!!!!
Who is this girl you are Transporting Somewhere???????:screwy:

You have a daughter!?!?!?!?
A little more we know, of Wittens Hamster, we have ----hergh hergh
(voice of Yoda).......:rofl:

Bartman

[CraigS]

With this thread being in General Chat, and with my own recently renewed personal commitment of not going into 'full scientific rigour' mode outside of the Science Forum, I have refrained from attempting an answer to this question.

However, an easy-to-read article (http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-04-newly-merged-black-hole-eagerly.html) showed up the other day with some good words in it:



Bart:
I haven't seen the doco you mention. However, when we look into a scope, we're looking at light which has moved vast distances through space. From Earth's frame of reference, we conventionally interpret this observation as coming from the past.

Hawking and Susskind famously disagreed about whether all information about matter is lost when it falls into a BH. Hawking (from a Classsical Newtonian/Einsteinian princlples perspective, said 'Yes'. Susskind (from a quantum mechanics fundamental principle perspective) said 'No'.

Gerard t'Hooft and Susskind developed the Holographic Principle and, in so doing (in my view), have won the argument. Information is not lost .. so a BH still returns things to the real, physical world, in spite of the perceptions that 'nothing escapes a BH'. I believe Hawking also yielded, and paid off his various bets to the contrary.

The outcome of this debate (over many years) means that Quantum Mechanics and String Theory both survive, as both of these rest on various information preservation principles.

Cheers

[avandonk]

Children are the best scientists until their 'education' wears down their curiousity and wonder.

How do you answer a six year old who asks 'since snail shells are so hard how do they grow?'

I find it easier to tell a blatant lie to adults and get away with it than kids.

It was a schoolboy in the 1940's or 1950's ? who pointed out to the lofty physicists that the Universe was getting lighter as all stars were converting mass to energy!

Bert

[Screwdriverone]

Ummm, sorry about this people....

The sun ISNT burning anything!

It is the process of fusion of Hydrogen atoms into Helium which is causing the tremendous outpouring of heat and light within the vicinity of our Solar System....

"Burning" implies a fuel combusting in oxygen which is consumed to release the energy contained within the fuel.

The sun is not doing this. There is no Oxygen in space and the "burning" of the sun is simply the appearance of the release of the energy which sort of kinda "looks" like its on fire and therefore with us feeling the heat, we relate it to fire and burning....

The mass of the sun and the extreme density and pressure of the Hydrogen contained within it is causing the fusion. The mass of the sun causes the gravity which keeps the orbits of the planets and our solar system in check.

Due to the extremely high gravitational attraction that a black hole would impart on our sun if it were to come within range, the mass of our sun would begin to peel away and start to fall within the black hole's influence, effectively reducing the sun's mass and therefore EATING the sun rather than burning it. Once enough mass is stripped away from the sun, it would extinguish as the balance of mass/pressure/fuel would not allow fusion to continue....

That's my answer....and I'm sticking to it....;)

Cheers

Chris

[michaellxv]

Your problem in answering this is that you started off with a little lie.



By making equivalent the fusion of hydrogen in a star and the combustion of wood you have deviated from the truth which then leads to this



It's a downhill spiral from there.

Just tell the truth. 'The Great One' clearly understands more than you think.

Why does the omission of complex detail lead to a lie when we try to explain things?

[CraigS]

Guys;

Don't take this too seriously … (is this me saying this ?? :lol: :) )
:)

Try explaining nuclear fusion to a nine year old, have them get it, and then report back to this thread to tell us how you managed to achieve this.

(This is the 'General Chat' forum, isn't it ?)
:)

Cheers

[michaellxv]

But this is seriously fun watching you wriggle your way out of the hole you have dug :poke::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[CraigS]

Ego tripper !
:)
I like holes .. they're nice & comfy !
:)
And nine year-olds can dish up flak way worse that you guys !
:)
…. and .. well ... err …umm … and, oh yeah ! … It was really bad traffic when the question was raised … err ... really bad …. bad … I mean … bad … y'know ?
:)
Cheers