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- Newsgroups: sci.physics
- Path: sparky!uunet!destroyer!ubc-cs!newsserver.sfu.ca!news
- From: palmer@sfu.ca (Leigh Palmer)
- Subject: Re: Converting the masses
- Message-ID: <1992Jul22.195007.18309@sfu.ca>
- Sender: news@sfu.ca
- Organization: Simon Fraser University
- References: <n0596t@ofa123.fidonet.org> <mcirvin.711489157@husc10> <130889@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV>
- Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 19:50:07 GMT
- Lines: 18
-
- In article <130889@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV> dk@imager (Dave Knapp) writes:
-
- > 2.) Laymen who have heard of "relativistic mass" frequently ask why
- > a sufficiently energetic rocket ship can't become a black hole.
- > If you believe that "relativistic mass" is real, then you have
- > to explain why it doesn't behave like a black hole gravitationally.
-
- You will just have to redefine the "mass of a black hole", something
- which lacks sufficient definition. I say "the rest mass of a black
- hole". Of course I talk to physics students, not laymen. I believe
- the principal intent of the language I use in teaching is to convey
- meaning to those prepared to appreciate it. By the way, I've never
- been asked by a physics student why a sufficiently fast-moving rocket
- ship (or other particle) doesn't "behave like a black hole gravita-
- tionally". It does behave like a gravitating mass having the relativistic
- mass, of course.
-
- Leigh
-