Which statement best describes Hawking radiation?

• A. It causes black holes to gain mass over time.
• B. It leads to higher temperature for larger black holes.
• C. It implies that smaller black holes are hotter and evaporate faster.
• D. It is a feature only of exotic hypothetical objects.

Answer: (C)

Hawking radiation is a quantum effect that makes black holes emit radiation and lose mass, with the temperature inversely related to the hole’s mass. Because the temperature gets higher as the mass gets smaller, smaller black holes are hotter and lose energy more quickly, leading to faster evaporation. This is why the best description is that smaller black holes are hotter and evaporate faster.

Energy carried away by the radiation comes from the black hole itself, so it does not gain mass over time. The temperature does not rise for larger black holes; it actually decreases with increasing mass. Hawking radiation is not limited to exotic objects—it’s a prediction for real black holes from quantum field theory in curved spacetime.