4 ms·

The density mentioned (0.059 grams per cubic centimeter) is the overall density of the planet. Most probably it has a much much denser core, solid or thick supe

The density mentioned (0.059 grams per cubic centimeter) is the overall density of the planet. Most probably it has a much much denser core, solid or thick super hot fluid, like all gas giants. It doesn’t mean that the whole planet has the same cotton candy density (0.05 grams per cubic centimeter) from the top layers down to the core ;-) On the funny side of this, what would happen if we kept adding cotton candies at an empty/isolated place in space? After some critical mass, the cotton candies would collapse under their own weight/mass and a new asteroid would be created. If we kept adding even more candies a further collapse would create a new planet :-) Imagine stacking/accumulating different materials. A planet made just of bananas, a planet made of only water, a planet from rice… /note to self - check if there is such a planet simulator available

keithly 2y ago
Or a planet made of a mole of moles... https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/
- piker 2y ago
  > You might notice that we’re ignoring the pockets of space between the moles. In a moment, you’ll see why. Lol!
hbrav 2y ago
As you added more and more cotton candy you would begin to compress the centre under the pressure, and you would get some heating from this. I think there's a good change you would melt and cotton candy and eventually it would re-solidify into an enormous boiled sweet core, with a diffuse envelope of cotton candy around it.
- prox 2y ago
  Would love to see a simulation of that haha
  - harry_ord 2y ago
    A project for future odd ball people/groups
- datameta 2y ago
  They outer layer would be an excellent insulator.
TrainedMonkey 2y ago
You might enjoy a mole of moles - https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/
_boffin_ 2y ago
I’m sensing a new XKCD—how much cotton candy would it take until it becomes an asteroid and what would the core be after.
roywiggins 2y ago
"Carl Sagan's Cosmos: 'The Meat Planet'" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP7K9SycELA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP7K9SycELA
tuanx5 2y ago
Sounds like you should visit Magrathea for a designer planet!
euroderf 2y ago
This sounds like a task for one of the Culture's GSVs.
MisterBastahrd 2y ago
What's the minimum material density necessary for a collapse such as this? Is it possible to have a planet with a core of solid oxygen, for example?
- pixl97 2y ago
  I mean, when we talk about the Jovian planet we believe it has a core of solid metal hydrogen, the only real problem getting an oxygen planet is there is much more hydrogen/helium in the universe so that's what it's going to be made out of.
Rumudiez 2y ago
the Katamari game series plays on this idea of creating themed planets by rolling up everyday objects on Earth
jon_richards 2y ago
What fascinates me is that if you had enough cotton candy, it would be a black hole. I don't mean it would collapse into a black hole, I mean even at a uniform density of 0.05 grams per cubic centimeter, it would already be a black hole. We're so used to surface area scaling at r^2 and volume scaling at r^3 and the weird effects that can have (never scale up an exothermic reaction), but the maximum amount of matter that can exist in a volume without creating a black hole scales by r^1. Even with cotton candy, that r^3 is going to out-scale r^1 at some point. It's an interesting thought experiment for algorithm complexity as well. Can you actually retrieve an element from an array in constant time regardless of the size of the array? In the extreme case, the drive containing the array must have r proportional to the size of the array to avoid becoming a black hole. Assuming the query and element travel along the drive at the speed of light, retrieving the element still takes time proportional to the size of the array.
- lainga 2y ago
  I have struggled to find an established name for this value. I thought it would be something called the "Schwarzschild density", but no luck. Famously, the [someone's name??]-density of the observable universe just happens to be very close to the density that would tip the universe over into being a very large black hole
  - littlestymaar 2y ago
    But given that the universe is expanding, if we're close to this density doesn't that mean that the density used to be higher than the threshold at some point?
    - pixl97 2y ago
      This is why when talking about the big bang physicists talk about the inflation field at the start of it. The primitives in the pre microsecond universe have to be different from a black hole otherwise there's no way to un black hole yourself.
  - jon_richards 2y ago

keithly 2y ago

Or a planet made of a mole of moles... https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/

piker 2y ago
> You might notice that we’re ignoring the pockets of space between the moles. In a moment, you’ll see why. Lol!

hbrav 2y ago

As you added more and more cotton candy you would begin to compress the centre under the pressure, and you would get some heating from this. I think there's a good change you would melt and cotton candy and eventually it would re-solidify into an enormous boiled sweet core, with a diffuse envelope of cotton candy around it.

prox 2y ago
Would love to see a simulation of that haha
- harry_ord 2y ago
  A project for future odd ball people/groups
datameta 2y ago
They outer layer would be an excellent insulator.

TrainedMonkey 2y ago

You might enjoy a mole of moles - https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/

_boffin_ 2y ago

I’m sensing a new XKCD—how much cotton candy would it take until it becomes an asteroid and what would the core be after.

roywiggins 2y ago

"Carl Sagan's Cosmos: 'The Meat Planet'" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP7K9SycELA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP7K9SycELA

tuanx5 2y ago

Sounds like you should visit Magrathea for a designer planet!

euroderf 2y ago

This sounds like a task for one of the Culture's GSVs.

MisterBastahrd 2y ago

What's the minimum material density necessary for a collapse such as this? Is it possible to have a planet with a core of solid oxygen, for example?

pixl97 2y ago
I mean, when we talk about the Jovian planet we believe it has a core of solid metal hydrogen, the only real problem getting an oxygen planet is there is much more hydrogen/helium in the universe so that's what it's going to be made out of.

Rumudiez 2y ago

the Katamari game series plays on this idea of creating themed planets by rolling up everyday objects on Earth

jon_richards 2y ago

What fascinates me is that if you had enough cotton candy, it would be a black hole. I don't mean it would collapse into a black hole, I mean even at a uniform density of 0.05 grams per cubic centimeter, it would already be a black hole. We're so used to surface area scaling at r^2 and volume scaling at r^3 and the weird effects that can have (never scale up an exothermic reaction), but the maximum amount of matter that can exist in a volume without creating a black hole scales by r^1. Even with cotton candy, that r^3 is going to out-scale r^1 at some point. It's an interesting thought experiment for algorithm complexity as well. Can you actually retrieve an element from an array in constant time regardless of the size of the array? In the extreme case, the drive containing the array must have r proportional to the size of the array to avoid becoming a black hole. Assuming the query and element travel along the drive at the speed of light, retrieving the element still takes time proportional to the size of the array.

lainga 2y ago
I have struggled to find an established name for this value. I thought it would be something called the "Schwarzschild density", but no luck. Famously, the [someone's name??]-density of the observable universe just happens to be very close to the density that would tip the universe over into being a very large black hole
- littlestymaar 2y ago
  But given that the universe is expanding, if we're close to this density doesn't that mean that the density used to be higher than the threshold at some point?
  - pixl97 2y ago
    This is why when talking about the big bang physicists talk about the inflation field at the start of it. The primitives in the pre microsecond universe have to be different from a black hole otherwise there's no way to un black hole yourself.
- jon_richards 2y ago