:-) i know sounds like a daft question
2007-02-25 21:44:34 · 12 answers · asked by tunachunks199 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
lol sleakitwe
2007-02-25 21:51:41 · update #1
AStroglow, thats a good way of looking at it.
2007-02-25 22:26:21 · update #2
well the actual size and shape of the universe is still under investigation the truth is no body knows most suspect that it is like a soccer or American football shaped the problem is we cant really investigate the edge of the universe and some suggest that if we did we couldn't understand it as the normal laws of physics wouldn't apply there like a goldfish in a bowl which doesn't understand that its in a bowl and will never understand the world beyond it, well were all goldfish mate sorry
2007-02-25 22:22:33 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 4⤋
The term 'flat' has a technical meaning here.
Look at the surface of a sphere versus a plane. If you draw triangles on both, you will find that the angles of the spherical triangle always add up to more than 180 degrees, while the angles for a plane triangle add to exactly 180 degrees. We say that the sphere is positively curved and that the plane is flat. There are also surfaces that are negatively curved (where the angles of a triangle always add to less than 180 degrees).
In the same way, we can look at very large trianlges in the universe and ask if the angles always add to more, less than, or exactly 180 degrees. It turns out that the amount of mass determines which of these three possibilities actually happen, with more mass leading to positive curvature. At this point, it looks like the universe is flat with this definition.
2007-02-25 23:57:46 · answer #2 · answered by mathematician 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Mathemetician is correct.
In this case "flat" does not refer to the shape of the Universe, but to the curvature of space. Our Universe (the part we can see out to our event horizon) is accurately spherical in shape.
"Flat" in this sense means that four-dimensional space-time has (approximately) zero average curvature, out as far as we can see. Near stars and other massive bodies it is curved, but on a large scale all these little curved bits average out, and on a large scale the 3-dimensional geometry is not curved.
In a gravitational field (at your desk, for example), if you pick 3 points in space and draw a very accurate triangle between them, you would find that the sum of the angles in that triangle is less than 180 degrees. In the space between clusters of galaxies, however, an accurately-drawn triangle would have angles whose sum is close to 180 degrees. That is what is meant by "flat" in this case. This may not seem remarkable, but it is, in fact, the result of a delicate balance between forces that was set up during the epoch of early inflation during the first nanosecond after the Big Bang.
This has nothing to do with hypothetical extra dimensions---it is a property of classical general-relativistic space-time.
2007-02-26 01:14:10 · answer #3 · answered by cosmo 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The universe is expanding spherically.
The idea of a flat universe would mean there were things that were separated by nothing
It's a good question,but it could not be anything else.
2007-02-26 01:17:31 · answer #4 · answered by Billy Butthead 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Apparently it's flat in 11 dimensions, not just the 3 we're normally used to. So the 'thin' side only exists in 11 dimensions, when viewed in our normal 3 dimensions the thin side cannot be seen.
2007-02-26 00:12:59 · answer #5 · answered by Timbo 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
by flat, do you mean static? as in NOT expanding? If so, i think you must be reading some outdated material, something Einstein wrote, perhaps? I suggest looking into string theory, it's not proven yet, but there are some fascinating studies concerning string theory, good reading.
if you mean flat as far as applies to the space-time continuum, it is indeed flat in the voids (where there is no matter, ie stars, planets, etc) but it is quite warped around large objects such as our sun, earth, and other such objects.
2007-02-25 21:54:05 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
By flat they mean same density everywhere, not warped or curved on itself.
Flat in a 3D type of way. As opposed to the space-time continuum curved like a bell, either concave or convex.
2007-02-25 22:01:44 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Who told you the universe was FLAT! LOL!!
Are you flat? Is the keyboard on which you typed this question flat?
LOL!!
2007-02-25 21:48:20 · answer #8 · answered by sleakitweasel1 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
how does anyone know that the universe is flat they can't see to the end of it yet
2007-02-25 21:48:48 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Actually its not flat but shaped more or less like a bee hive.
2007-02-25 21:57:52 · answer #10 · answered by ag_iitkgp 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋