CompuServe Messages

Nick, Of the 4 forces know to exist in nature (strong, weak, electromagnetic and gravitational) the one that has the most binding power is the strong. To create a completely rigid object of discrete particles…you would need the strongest possible binding force, thus you would require the strong nforce. That wouldn't be too bad, except that the strong force can only act over sub-atomic distances. Thus to bind via the strong force, you'd need to get the separate and discrete particles that make up the rod close enough together for the strong force to come into play. An object bound that way is known as a neutron star. The only way to get things even closer is via gravity. Since gravity is so weak on a per object basis…you need lots and lots of those discrete particles to get enough combined gravitational force to be stronger than the strong force…in other words, lots of mass, enough in fact to create a black hole. In any event…a visible quanity of a neutron star would weigh billions of tons. An equivalent sized portion of a black hole would weigh even more. So in the case stated by Rick…density and rigidity do in fact go hand in hand. Don