How Do Black Holes Evaporate?

Imagine a black hole is like a giant cosmic sponge that soaks up everything around it. But surprisingly, this sponge also leaks water! It loses a tiny bit of its weight over time through something called Hawking radiation. This happens because space is never truly empty. Tiny particles pop in and out of existence everywhere, even near the black hole.

Sometimes, these particle pairs form right at the edge of the black hole. One falls in while the other escapes into space. The one that escapes takes some energy away with it. Since energy equals mass, the black hole gets lighter each time this happens.

For a big black hole like ours in the Milky Way, this leaking is very slow. It would take longer than the current age of the universe to notice much change. But for tiny black holes, it happens fast! Eventually, the sponge runs out of "water" and pops out of existence with a final bright flash. So, black holes are not permanent trash cans; they are temporary storage units that eventually empty themselves.