Sunday, 16 June 2013

The Matter Myth: Chapter 9 Analysis


            The ninth chapter, titled The Infinite Future, teaches readers about the creation of different types of stars and other massive objects in space. Gravity is assumed to be the cause of the creation of dwarf stars, neutron stars, and black holes.
            Gravity is an infinitely long ranged force that acts based not only on the mass of an object, but also its size. As an object becomes more massive, its gravitational pull increases. In addition, as an object with the same mass decreases in size, its gravitational pulls increases. This is because the gravitational force of an object follows an inverse square law based on its mass and radius. It is useful to imagine that as a massive object contracts due to its own gravitation, its gravitational force increases.
            Stars like the Sun are capable of keeping their size and not shrinking because of the nuclear fusion inside of it. The conversion of light elements such as hydrogen into heavier elements such as helium produces enough of a pressure to allow the Sun to keep its size. Inevitably, fusion will eventually burn out and lose to the force of gravity. As a result, the Sun will eventually shrink and become a white dwarf star. If the Sun was larger, they force of its gravity may force it to shrink even further, into a neutron star. The density of a neutron star is so immense that its electrons and protons form neutrons.
(above) This is a depiction of a white dwarf star the size of Earth. Although both objects possess the same size, the white dwarf star possesses a much stronger gravitational force due to its density.
            Black holes are mysterious things that possess such an immense amount of gravity that an object must accelerate past the speed the light to escape from the force of its gravitation. Black holes are the result of a massive star continually collapsing due to the force of its own gravity.
Bibliography
Davies, Paul, and John Gribbin. The Matter Myth. New York: Orion Productions, 1992. Print
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