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Creation of a Black Hole
To fully understand what happens to matter that falls into a black hole, it is helpful to understand how a black hole is created. Black holes are often created when very large stars having at least 20 times the mass of our Sun die. Throughout a star's life, there is a constant battle between the gravity of the star pulling in, and the nuclear reactions within the star pushing out. As the massive star's nuclear fuel is exhausted, it explodes in a supernova. While the outer parts of the star are expelled outward, the core collapses inward.
Gravitational Forces
When a massive star collapses in on itself, it reaches a point of zero volume and infinite density, creating a singularity. The gravity around this singularity is so strong that not even light is able to escape. Since light is necessary for sight, it is impossible to see the actual singularity, leading to the name "black hole."
Matter
When material approaches a black hole, a small percentage of the material's energy is sometimes radiated away, while the remaining portion is absorbed by the black hole. Once inside, the material is isolated from the rest of space and time, and is no longer technically part of our universe. The material is torn apart and absorbed by the black hole, adding to its overall mass.
Theories
There are a number of theories about what may happen inside a black hole. One theory predicts that black holes may connect to other portions of space, or other universes. The mathematics used to study black holes does support this as a possibility, but such a connection would be very brief and unstable. Since matter is torn apart upon entry, even if a black hole did connect to another universe, traversing it would be impossible.