An expert in physics explained how a tiny black hole can easily destroy Earth. Although the entire planet would not get sucked into the black hole, the expert noted that everything on Earth would still be vaporized.
In a forum on Quora, experts from various fields discussed what would happen on Earth if a black hole the size of a coin suddenly appears inside the planet. According to Frank Heile, who has a PhD in physics from Stanford University, a tiny coin-sized black hole would still be powerful enough to destroy the entire planet.
Destroying The Entire Planet
During such a scenario, Heile noted that a coin-sized black hole would have the same mass as Earth. Once it materializes inside the planet, the black hole would swallow up everything on Earth. As various materials fall into the black hole due to its strong gravitational pull, they would get compressed and heated to extremely high temperatures.
Eventually, the heat from the materials falling into the black hole would radiate outwards and incinerate everything. Heile noted that the intensity of the heat would be enough to vaporize everything on Earth.
"When the matter near the black hole begins to 'fall' into the black hole it will be compressed to very high density which will cause it to be heated to very high temperatures," Heile explained. "These high temperatures will cause gamma rays, x-rays and other radiation to heat up the other matter falling into the black hole."
Resisting The Black Hole's Pull
Despite the power of the tiny black hole, Heile noted that the entire planet would not be swallowed up by the cosmic object. This is because as the black hole consumes materials on Earth, it would generate immense pressure on the planet's outer layers. Contrary to the effects of the black hole on its surroundings, the immense pressure would push the outer layers of the planet away from the black hole's centre.
Heile explained that even though the inner regions of Earth would get sucked into the black hole, the outer layers would remain. Theoretically, this would leave an empty shell of a planet. "So some inner portion of the core will fall into the black hole but the outer layers, including the crust and all of us, would be vaporized to a high-temperature plasma and be blown into space," Heile stated.
