what if: a tablespoon full of neutron star matter were...

[bonzelite]

...dropped onto the surface of the earth? the question is about a super-dense object, of tenable size, being subject to the current conditions of earth's gravity and overall density. <br /><br />you drop a car from a building, it may displace some asphalt. you jump in some mud, you displace the mud and sink. you drop a nearly inpenetrable piece of matter weighing several million tons, from a few miles high, the size of a silver dollar, then what?

 

[alokmohan]

One table spon of neutron stra weigh several million earths.The idea is theoritical only.

 

[bonzelite]

right. i knew it was heavier than millions of tons. i was being conservative. it only makes the question more juicy. <br /><br />for the record, i don't really buy the idea of neutron stars. but if they were in existence, and the conditions posed by the question were met, then...

 

[CalliArcale]

Out of curiosity, why don't you buy the idea of neutron stars? There are several well-known examples, so if you wish to refute the concept, you must find an alternate explanation for the observed instances of neutron stars.<br /><br />Dropping a chunk of neutron star material towards the Earth from the top of a skyscraper.... This is an interesting thought experiment. First of all, since this small piece of neutron star is considerably more massive than the Earth, it wouldn't fall towards the Earth -- the Earth would fall towards it! There would doubtless be enormous tidal forces being exerted as well, as the neutron star material would be exerting considerably more force on the near side of Earth than the far side. It would probably tear the Earth apart, spreading it into an accretion disk of material which would over time be pulled down onto the surface of this tiny piece of matter, making it slightly more massive but not much larger in volume.<br /><br />That's my guess, anyway. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[yevaud]

The concept is valid, but I do seem to recollect from school that the weight of a "teaspoon of matter collected from a Neutron Star would weigh as much as several mountains," not many times that of the Earth. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

Y'know, I think you're right. I need more caffeine. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />I guess I was thinking of a tablespoon of supermassive black hole. <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[yevaud]

It'd be a race to get away before it consumed the spoon...and you.<br /><br />*yark*<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[h9c2]

A neutron star's average density is theorized to be in the order of 10^14 g/cm^3. So, a tablespoon of this stuff would be 5*10^11 kg. <br />Assuming a terminal velocity of 250 kph, that would give the chunk a kinetic energy of about 10^21 kJ.<br />In comparison, the "manson event" released about 10^18 kJ and left a crater about 38km wide. This was a local extinction event. <br /><br />Edited for more calculation errors

 

[yevaud]

Magnitude-wise, that sounds more correct. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[bonzelite]

i like your imagery. the earth would fall toward it. <br /><br />even if this tablespoon of matter was not more massive than the earth, the short film clip of a description you provided was awesome nonetheless. highly apocalyptic and warped. it is extremely bizarre in that the physical dimensions of the earth compared to the tiny piece of matter, that being more massive, sets up a visually paradoxical scenario of destruction. <br /><br />i like that. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />