: : What properties account for the shape of a black hole? : : Why is a black hole funnel-shaped? Shouldn't it be more 3-D? Why isn't the event horizon a sphere, pulling in objects from all directions???? : A black hole is not as you say funnel shaped it is in fact a sphere, the illustration of the funnel mereley represents the forcce of the black holes gravitational pull. You know about Einsteinian gravity right, mass creates a warpage of space time. think of a bowling ball on a huge latex sheet, the latex sheet is spacetime, and the bowling ball is a black hole the bowling ball warps the sheet creating a funnel like dent in the latex sheet, this is why blackholes are usualyy illustrated this way.

: PS: Please anyone feel free to post a message if there is a fault in my explanation.

I see no fault in your explination, a black hole is infact spherical, where the escape velocity of the object exceeds the speed of light. (escape velocity= sq. root of the mass of an object divided by the sq. root of the radius of an object.) under my calculations for an object with as much mass as the earth to become a black hole, it must be about the size of a grape.