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  1. Home
  2. Physics Demonstrations and Equipment
  3. Astronomy
  4. Stellar Astronomy
  5. Black Holes

Black Holes Concept

Demonstrations in Black Holes

Two pink Silly Putty figures on a gray surface: a short, proportionate figure with bowler hat and smile (left) and the same figure stretched tall and thin (right)

Spaghettification

Demonstrates spaghettification — the stretching of objects by tidal forces near a black hole. Students see how differential gravity across an extended body produces elongation along the radial direction and …
Neoprene sheet with yellow dot grid stretched between bicycle wheel rims with spring clamps, marble launcher held at right, colored marbles and foam-tipped rod on sheet

Singularity

A stretched rubber sheet provides a 2D analog of spacetime curvature from General Relativity. Students observe marbles traveling straight lines on a flat sheet, then curved geodesic paths when the …
Black spandex sheet with white dot grid stretched between bike wheel rims, with a glass marble at center creating a depression and a wooden triangular launcher at the left edge; colored marbles are scattered on the sheet

Gravitational Lensing

Marbles rolling across a stretched rubber sheet demonstrate how massive objects curve spacetime and deflect light paths. Students observe that deeper curvature (heavier central mass) produces stronger deflection, and that …

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