The Terrifying Journey of Compressed Water: From Liquid to Black Hole

Through infinite compression, a mundane quantity of water would ultimately yield a terrifying black hole

If we were to continuously compress water, what would we ultimately obtain?

Imagine we place an infinite amount of water into a device capable of unlimited compression. As pressure begins to rise, the temperature of the water also continues to increase. Soon, it would reach its boiling point. When the pressure reaches 100,000 standard atmospheres, the hydrogen-oxygen bonds within the water molecules break, directly transforming into high-density solid ice crystals. However, this substance is not the ice we are familiar with; it is a polymer of hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

With increasing pressure, the temperature of the water molecules rises steadily, and the gaps between molecules gradually decrease with continued compression. When the temperature is high enough to impart sufficient collision energy among the ionized gas molecules, we eventually obtain a plasma composed of partially ionized matter. At this point, traditional water as we know it ceases to exist. When the pressure reaches 1,000,000 standard atmospheres, the distance between atoms becomes extremely close, and the temperature becomes very high.

At this stage, we would obtain a warm, dense substance, with a certain probability of direct collisions between atomic nuclei leading to nuclear fusion processes. When the pressure reaches 40,000,000 atmospheres, the water would directly transition into a metallic state, forming metallic hydrogen. This is an energy material coveted by humanity, as possession of it could make one the wealthiest person in the world.

However, extreme caution is warranted when the pressure reaches 2,000,000,000 atmospheres. At this point, hydrogen atoms begin nuclear fusion, forming helium. Meanwhile, the substance within the container would exhibit frantic expansion, necessitating the preparation of a super container to contain it, as the energy released could be sufficient to destroy a city. Continuing to apply pressure, the substance helium would fuse into carbon, followed by sequential fusion according to the periodic table.

When the pressure reaches eight times greater than the collapse pressure of the sun, the final product of nuclear fusion — iron — is obtained. If one still decides not to halt the process, the electrons within the iron atoms would attempt to resist. Once the pressure reaches 10,000,000,000,000,000 atmospheres, the iron electrons would be completely defeated and forced into the atomic nuclei, where they would neutralize positively charged protons, forming neutrons. Thus, a neutron star is obtained.

At this point, the substance would weigh billions of tons per cubic centimeter. If one remains unsatisfied, as the neutron star accumulates mass beyond the Oppenheimer limit, it would collapse, resulting in a black hole. Thus, through infinite compression, a mundane quantity of water would ultimately yield a terrifying black hole.

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