Giant space cube question

[billfish678]

@Chronos

And it’s not quite clear whether a neutron star can be that big, either, so it just might still end up as a black hole anyway, and is certainly close to becoming one.

Dammmmmnnnnn you Hamster King ! shakes closed fist at Hamster King …and vows never to trust rodent royalty again !

I kid, I kid

[PlainJain]

It was mentioned up thread that all of this would take place relatively quickly, but how long would it take just two 6" cubes 6" apart to fall together?

@CalMeacham

If you could build a cubical planet and keep it that shape, you’d get interesting results. Oceans would form in the middles of faces. Gravity would point in unexpected directions, not always towards the geometric center of your cube. The corners would stick up above your atmosphere.

Too lazy to search myself, but there was a very interesting thread about that a while back for those interested.

[Chronos]

By the way, it wouldn’t quite all fall together uniformly: If you draw a line through the center of two opposite faces, everything along that line will come together more-or-less uniformly, but the corners will be a bit slower, leading to a sort of puckered shape while it’s falling.

It was mentioned up thread that all of this would take place relatively quickly, but how long would it take just two 6" cubes 6" apart to fall together?

Back-of-the-envelope, about an hour (which is also how long it’d take for the full-sized problem).

[LSLGuy]

@PlainJain

…Too lazy to search myself, but there was a very interesting thread about that a while back for those interested.

Since it’s been asked for twice now … http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=40104211

[ZenBeam]

@LSLGuy

Since it’s been asked for twice now … If the Earth was a cube - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board

Fixed the link.