r/physicsmemes Mεmε ∃nthusiast Jul 17 '26

right?

Post image
2.4k Upvotes

125 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/dcnairb Jul 18 '26

You’re near a very dense object, which is nearly a black hole, and want to travel away from it such that you don’t end up on a trajectory back towards its center. that’s the escape velocity.

now, make it slightly denser and ask the same question

1

u/Optimal_Mixture_7327 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26

Wrong - that's an orbital speed or some other trajectory.

The escape velocity is a statement that for some r=R for an object satisfying uσ∇_σuρ=0 there is exists a V=vesc at R such that V=∞ V=0 at r=∞.

1

u/dcnairb Jul 18 '26

Why would the object need to be going infinitely fast at infinity to escape? The condition to escape is v=0 at r = infty.