The Controversy Surrounding The Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider is the biggest and most powerful atom smasher in the world. It was built by the European Organization of Nuclear Research. It took ten years to build from 1998 to 2008. The completion of the LHC was a huge step forward in nuclear research.

The main controversy surrounding the LHC is the question of if it may be too powerful. If atoms are smashed fast enough that they could produce a black hole which could expand rapidly and swallow the earth. The atoms are currently being smashed at light speed and it is possible for a black hole to be produced.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research believes that there is no threat of a black hole swallowing the earth. They know that it is a possibility that a black hole could be created but believe that it

They think that it would rapidly expand. When expanding it would swallow matter as it grew until it eventually swallowed the world.

I think that the LHC could not create a black hole that would swallow our earth. One reason is that black holes lose more mass that they absorb evaporating them within a trillionth of a second. Another reason is that Earth is hit with cosmic rays powerful enough to destroy the earth by generating a black hole but the atmosphere stops them from being destructive. Also, the black holes travel so fast that if they escaped they would be launched out of earths gravity. They would be so small that they could only destroy 100 protons a year. That is why I think the Earth is safe from a black hole produced by the LHC.

The first reason a black hole couldn’t destroy the Earth is because they would dissolve instantly. Black holes, when out of things to feed on, release energy called Hawking Radiation. If they run out of matter they will produce Hawking Radiation until they dissolve. The black holes produced by the LHC would be too small to ever get enough matter before