Doesn't the gravitational force inside the event horizon of a black hole cause objects to exceed 186000m/s?

Question

Okay, so if the gravitational force between two objects increases as the square of the distance between them decreases, and the event horizon of a black hole is the point where its escape velocity is equal to the speed of light, wouldn't an object continue to accelerate past the speed of light once it had fallen through the event horizon of a black hole? I know this can't be right, but what would stop it from doing this?

Answer 1

Objects that fall into the event horizon are not going at lightspeed when they cross the horizon.  The fact that escape velocity equals "c" at the horizon is basically another way of saying that it would require an infinite amount of energy to break out.  But it doesn't require an infinite amount of energy to break in!

The speed at which an object crosses the horizon is hard to define, because space and time are so strongly warped at that location.  As seen from an observer on the outside, objects actually _slow_ _down_ as they get very near the horizon, due to time dilation effects; and in fact appear to freeze in time just at the moment of crossing.  (This critical moment can't actually be observed, because at the same time, the photons coming from the object become so red-shifted that they run out of energy before they can reach the observer's eyes.)

From the point of view of the falling object, this "freezing in time" doesn't happen; it's clock is ticking normally from its own perspective.  Assuming the object can avoid being ripped apart by tidal forces, it will "notice" nothing in particular out of the ordinary as it crosses the horizon.

It's not correct to say that black holes defy the laws of physics (after all, the laws of physics are what predicted black holes' existence, decades before their discovery).  Inside the horizon, the theory of relativity still holds, which means the object can't outrun a lightbeam in its local space.  

Answer 2

They say black holes defy the laws of physics.  The fact that is compresses matter into a singularity 0 x 0 x 0 in volume certainly goes against the laws.

Answer 3

Inside the event horizon of a black hole the laws of physics, as we seem to understand them, do not apply. Here is an interesting article (see reference link), in laymans terms, that sheds some light (pun intended) on this subject.

Enjoy.