Lighter than Light

By definition, a black hole is an object with a gravitational field so powerful that a region of space becomes cut off from the rest of the universe – no matter or radiation, including visible light, that has entered the region can ever escape.

Now, in school we learn that the gravitational force (F) is calculated by F = Gmn / r*r where G is the universal gravitational constant, m the mass of the first object, n the mass of the second object and r the distance between the object.

We also learn in school that light as no mass. This had me thinking … if light as no mass, it shouldn’t be attracted by the gravitational field of a black hole. It appears that Einstein thought of that before me. Einstein proposed in is general theory of relativity that mass and radius of an object (its compactness) actually curves space-time. The stronger the gravitational field of an object, the more the space around the object is curved. In other words, straight lines are no longer straight if exposed to a strong gravitational field; instead, they are curved. Since light ordinarily travels on a straight-line path, light follows a curved path if it passes through a strong gravitational field. This is what is meant by "curved space," and this is why light becomes trapped in a black hole.