It’s what I’ve heard it called. The closer to the center of mass, and the smaller the black hole, the greater the change in gravity as you get closer.
The pull at your feet and the pull at your head when standing on Earth is so close to identical that it makes no difference.
Picture it like the lines on a topographical map of an open plain, they’re all spread out, almost no change over a long distance.
The more you fall, the closer the lines get together, so that the gravity up top isn’t the same as at your feet anymore, and that difference only continues to grow.
When the change in the gravity rate is high enough, the pull on your feet is so much stronger than at your head you get pulled apart like taffy.
bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 4 days ago
Old thread, but I wanted to add that this isn’t even limited to black holes but can happen with any sufficiently large object in a gravitational field.
Like if the moon came closer and closer to earth at some point the gravitational force on one end would be so much stronger than on the other end that it would be ripped apart. Not quite spaghetti level, but same idea.
Inversely, with super massive black holes the event horizon is so enormous that the spaghettification effect could only occur when you’re already inside. So from outside it couldn’t be observed.