>Thanks Hilmar, You did you homework on this one.

It so happens that I have a keen interest in Astronomy, from the time I was a little boy.

> When I was talking about earth accelerating in velocity, it was with regards to the universe expanding at an accelerated rate, as opposed to the expansion slowing down as one would expect, if the original motion was due to a big bang. There must be some other forces at work causing the acceleration.

The expansion of the Universe? Yes, it seems to be accelerating, but here on Earth - and for any other observer - it looks as if you are the center of the expansion.

It was expected for a long time that the expansion would decelerate, due to gravitation. The latest observations suggest the opposite. It looks, indeed, as if there are other forces.

>Based on discussions with others and some reading, my understanding of black holes are that they build mass by attracting matter. The black holes have such a strong gravitation force that they collapse the matter into its most dense state.
>
>All matter on earth is made up of atoms. Atoms are mostly empty space, but the atoms monocles move so fast as to make them appear and act solid, like a chair or a tree appear to be solid. Atoms form strong bonds to produce matter. All this is based on physic principles. I know that if the atomic structure of matter is thrown out of balance a chain reaction can occur with corresponding release of great energy, which is an indication of how strong the atomic bonding is.

There are three "states of matter" in stars, which are less extreme than black holes. (The state of matter in a live star is a plasma; similar to a gas, but most atoms are ionized.)

When a star is shining, there is an equilibrium between outward forces (gas pressure, pressure of radiation) and inward forces (gravitation).

When the fuel gets exhausted (simplified explanation: there is no more hydrogen left, that can be converted to helium), there is no more radiation pressure, and the star collapses to a much denser state - a white dwarf. For instance, Sirius B has about 1/100 the diameter of the Sun, but about the same mass. This makes for a density of a few tons for a teaspoon of matter (2-3 cubic centimeters). The diameter of the star is perhaps a few thousand km., or about the size of our Moon.

If the star has a mass above a certain limit, it will collapse to a neutron star (or pulsar), where the particles combine mainly to neutrons, and have the density of an atomic nucleus. The density is some million tons for a teaspoon full of matter, and the diameter of the star is a few tens of km.

It is believed that under certain circumstances, the neutron star, or part of it, will convert to a "quark star", where quarks exist freely, instead of being tied up in protons, neutrons and the like. This is an even more extreme state of matter.

None of the three states mentioned above can be reproduced in laboratories on Earth. Enormous pressures would be required.

>We have learned how to release the energy in matter by disrupting the matter's atomic balance or bonding, but have we learned how to collapse an atom.
>
>I'm not sure but I think I've read or heard that a black hole collapses the atoms of matter putting the matter into its most dense state.

I think the discussions among physicists are still open, on what the interior of a black hole would look like. The situation is so extreme, that current physical theories are simply not adequate to describe it.

It was believed for some time that a black hole would collapse all matter into a geometrical point. The idea is that no known force can counteract the ever-increasing gravitation (as the matter gets closer and closer, the gravitation would increase).

More recently, there have been theoretical studies on rotating black holes. In this case, the matter would not go into a point, but into a torus (ring) within the interior of the black hole.

>For example, if all the atoms in earth were collapsed, the earth might be reduce to the size of a golf ball. None-the-less, the earth would still have the same mass, weight, and gravitation pull as before. Is this true? Is it possible to collapse the atoms of matter and does anyone have this technology?

Not yet, AFAIK.