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Singularity facts & stats

7 fact-checked facts about singularities in math and physics, each with the reason behind it. 5 more are in today's round and join this page after it closes.

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The basics

The function f(x) = 1/x has a singularity at which value of x?

Answer0

Dividing by zero is undefined, so 1/x blows up and has a singularity at x = 0.

Which scientific theory predicts black holes?

AnswerEinstein's general relativity

General relativity describes gravity as curved spacetime and predicts regions so dense light cannot escape.

Going deeper

The radius of a non-rotating black hole's event horizon is named after whom?

AnswerKarl Schwarzschild

In 1916 Karl Schwarzschild found the solution to Einstein's equations that gives this radius.

The first image of a black hole's shadow, released in 2019, showed one in which galaxy?

AnswerM87

The Event Horizon Telescope released an image of the black hole in galaxy M87 in 2019.

What does "spaghettification" describe?

AnswerObjects stretched by extreme tidal forces near a black hole

Near a black hole, gravity pulls much harder on the nearer end of an object, stretching it thin.

Expert level

About how large is the Schwarzschild radius for a black hole with the Sun's mass?

AnswerAbout 3 kilometers

Squeezing the Sun's mass inside a radius of about 3 km would make it a black hole.

The function tan(x) has a singularity at which angle?

Answer90 degrees

tan(x) = sin(x)/cos(x), and cos(90°) = 0, so tan blows up at 90 degrees.

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