is space infinate?
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not really, for something to be infinite there actually has to be something there
the universe isnt anything per se and so it cant be said to be infinite
the universe isnt anything per se and so it cant be said to be infinite
The observable universe has a radius of 46.5 billion light-years, we have never known the size of the entire universe, but all theories suggest that it should be complete, which either require it to be a sphere or to be flat and infinite, and recent observations have shown that it is very likely flat.stinkychops said:
Why?badgersprite said:
..FAIL >.< I hope you're joking...badgersprite said:
There's not infinite energy, just infinite volume ( well theoretically anyway, who really knows )
That's the thing, it's the observable universe. Who knows how much empty space there is out there?maze1125 said:
No it's not. But the really hard thing to get your head around is that outside of it is nothing. No light, no time, no space, no movement, nothing. Took me years to be able to conceive of that in a way that didn't make my head hurt.
Point taken. However...zehydra said:
If all matter originated in one point in a vast (infinite?) void, then as we look out into space (and backwards in time), we should see matter being more densely packed in one direction (towards the center of expansion), and less densely in the opposite direction. Turns out that matter is actually packed more densely in *all* directions, and the further away you look, the more dense it gets. In other words, the universe was more dense long ago, but it was denser in every direction. So it looks like the center of expansion is all around us. To make it even more strange, everything appears to be moving away from *us*. So, Earth is at the center of expansion, and yet, we can see the center of expansion no matter in which direction we look.
These contradictions are explained by the theory (yes, theory) that the expansion isn't just the contents of the universe moving, but space expanding. Back to the balloon analogy: paint a bunch of dots on a balloon and blow it up. The distance between any two dots will increase, so to an observer standing in one of the dots, it will appear that all dots are moving away from him. They're actually not moving at all; it's the surface area of the balloon that's expanding.
Maze, how do you explain the distribution of matter in a universe of infinite size? Shouldn't it be infinitely sparse? To me, it would seem like anything else would require an infinite amount of matter, and thus infinite energy, and since you appear to know your physics, I don't need to keep rambling about that, now do I?Maze1125 said:
Space, as the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space] is infinite and the universe as the collection of all matter and energy is expanding outwards.
If you reached the edge of space you would simply be the matter and energy that is expanding the known universe.
If you reached the edge of space you would simply be the matter and energy that is expanding the known universe.
As far as I know and think I know, universe is not infinite. Sure, it is mind-bogglingly vast, what with space itself expanding and all. In the sense of what we can even theoretically perceive (within the constraints of the speed of light) universe is not infinite: there is a boundary beyond which space is expanding with speed faster than light (in relation to us) so any information travelling at the speed of light (or slower) will never, ever reach us.
Universe is huge and queerer than we can suppose, but it is not exactly infinite.
And for those asking what is beyond big bang? As far as we can currently tell, that is a meaningless question. It boils down to "what was before time?" but without time how can one tell what comes before something? It is like asking "What is the difference between an orange?" - unaswerable, because the question is logically nonsensical.
There are differing theories however, such as our Big Bang being the result of a previous Big Crunch. Some say God did it. Some say it was the result of a causal time-loop. Others that it was space-time causing itself from nothingness.
But that still doesn't answer the question of where the previous universe came from, what caused the time loop etc. or the fundamental flaw inherent in asking 'what happened before the first thing to ever happen happened'.
Universe is huge and queerer than we can suppose, but it is not exactly infinite.
And for those asking what is beyond big bang? As far as we can currently tell, that is a meaningless question. It boils down to "what was before time?" but without time how can one tell what comes before something? It is like asking "What is the difference between an orange?" - unaswerable, because the question is logically nonsensical.
There are differing theories however, such as our Big Bang being the result of a previous Big Crunch. Some say God did it. Some say it was the result of a causal time-loop. Others that it was space-time causing itself from nothingness.
But that still doesn't answer the question of where the previous universe came from, what caused the time loop etc. or the fundamental flaw inherent in asking 'what happened before the first thing to ever happen happened'.
I've always wondered that. I figure our "space" and all that, like our universe, if it was created in the big bang, then what would stop other places to do the same thing, just it's so big that we can't see it. I'm not talking about multiple universes, but think of it like this:
We have planets, that are part of solar systems.
We have Solar Systems that are part of galaxies.
We have galaxies, that are part of...whatever you want to call it.
They've found like hundreds or thousands of galaxies, right? I'm sure that if we could see big enough, we'd find out that all the galaxies are grouped together in a similar fashion of stars in galaxies. Then we'd find a bunch of other of those things.
I believe that even if we found out that our entire universe was in a huge marble, that there would still be something outside of that marble, because I don't believe in 'Not there.'
We have planets, that are part of solar systems.
We have Solar Systems that are part of galaxies.
We have galaxies, that are part of...whatever you want to call it.
They've found like hundreds or thousands of galaxies, right? I'm sure that if we could see big enough, we'd find out that all the galaxies are grouped together in a similar fashion of stars in galaxies. Then we'd find a bunch of other of those things.
I believe that even if we found out that our entire universe was in a huge marble, that there would still be something outside of that marble, because I don't believe in 'Not there.'
Sigh... I posted it before but i'll post it again!
Nothing in reality is infinite! Infinity is a theoretical concept used to explain and aproximate many many things.
Space may be very large.....So large we can't even imagine how large, but not infinite, nothing in reality is infinite!
Nothing in reality is infinite! Infinity is a theoretical concept used to explain and aproximate many many things.
Space may be very large.....So large we can't even imagine how large, but not infinite, nothing in reality is infinite!
It really depends on the amount of mass in the universe. If there is a lot of it space will curve positivly(so what you said) If Mater is to rare, space will curve negatively,becomeing infinateSquid94 said:
. with just the right amount space will not curve and will colapse into itself(a.k.a the big crunch).