es around them. Tidal forces are caused by the difference in gravitational force between two points. In small black holes this difference is greatly enhanced over smaller and smaller distances causing the famed spaghettification affect on an object closing in on the black holes event horizon. Spaghettification is where an object approaching a black hole is stretched lengthwise and compressed widthwise. These forces are so powerful in small black holes that Stephen W. Hawking theorized "the tidal forces of small black holes [are] strong enough to tear apart" pairs of antiparticles and virtual particles "producing enough energy to make the virtual particle materialize in space" (Jebornak, 1998). This process is known as Hawking radiation and counterbalances a black holes ability to absorb matter and grow. When the black hole creates this virtual particle some of its energy gets used, thus lowering its mass due to Einstein's famous equation E = Mc2. This causes a cascade effect since the smaller the black hole gets, the stronger the tidal forces get, which causes more particles to be formed. This process is called evaporation since it will lead to all of the black holes mass being changed into energy. William Kaufmann, a physicist, theorized that "the total amount of energy released during the final second of evaporation is equivalent to a billion megaton hydrogen bombs" (1989).Black holes are capable of generating tremendous amounts of energy, in fact, "black holes may be the force behind half the energy released since the universe began" (Zabarenko, 1999). There are three ways physicists believe it is possible to harness energy from black holes: through accretion discs, by super radiance, and with hawking radiation. Using Hawking radiation is the only process that requires a primordial black hole because as a black hole increases in mass the amount of Hawking radiation decreases exponentially. The other two processes can be carried out ...
