How much would I weigh on a Neutron Star?
Neutron stars contain the densest matter in
the universe, not including black holes which
break the laws of physics and are not really
things anymore, a topic for another video.
Neutron stars are the compressed remains of dead,
massive stars, stars that were big enough
to erupt in a supernova explosion, leaving
behind an extremely dense core.
This core can contain up to three times the
mass of our Sun in the space of only a 12-30km
across.
The material that makes up a neutron star
is called neutron-degenerate matter, a material
that only contains neutrons.
It is so densely packed that a matchbox full
of it would weigh 3 billion tonnes on Earth.
But this leads on to an interesting point,
the way we weigh something on Earth is by
an object pressing down on the Earth because
of the strength of Earth’s gravity.
Yet, the measurement we use to define something’s
weight is by describing its mass.
For instance, if I say I weigh 70kg, that
is actually my mass, not my weight, because
weight is measured by the strength of gravity
on mass.
On Mars, my mass of 70kg is the same, but
my weight is lighter because gravity is weaker
there.
On a neutron star, all this mass squeezed
into the tightest of spaces means that gravity
there is 2 x 10^11 times more than Earth, or 200 billion times stronger than on Earth.
To put this into some kind of perspective,
this means that if I were to fall from a height
of one meter from the surface of a neutron
star, I would hit the ground at 1,500 kms
per second.
It’s so strong that light can go in orbit
around it, meaning you can technically see
the whole neutron star at the same time.
So, although this is far outside the realms
of possibility, if I were to stand on a neutron
star, my weight would be 200 billion times
greater than it is on Earth - imagine how
much force I would be exerting on the floor
of the neutron star!
Not that it cares - because it is so densely
packed!
What would actually happen to my fragile body
is that it would flatten against the surface
to an atomic scale, likely turning into neutron-degenerate
matter as my atoms are crushed.
This powerful gravitational field means that
neutron stars are also the most perfect spheres
in the universe, likely being completely smooth.
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