How Do Black Holes Evaporate If Nothing Escapes Them?

Imagine a black hole is like a giant vacuum cleaner in space. You might think nothing can escape its suction, but it actually has a tiny leak!

Deep inside the vacuum cleaner, pairs of energy bubbles pop up all the time. Usually, they disappear together instantly. But sometimes, one gets stuck while the other escapes. This escaping bubble becomes light that flies away.

As these bubbles leave, the black hole loses a tiny bit of its mass. It is not dying suddenly; it is shrinking very slowly over billions of years. Think of an ice cube in warm air. You can see it getting smaller every hour until it is gone. Black holes do the same thing with their energy. The bigger they are, the slower they shrink. But given enough time, even the biggest black hole will evaporate into nothing but light.