This whole idea of the size of the universe has me thinking for hours? Anyone else like that?

Question

Ok my friends and I got into this really deep conversation about the universe today. They say that the universe is infinite, but infinity is just a concept. Does that mean that the universe is just a concept? There has to be a better way to explain the universe. We thought that maybe people say the universe is infinite because it actually has a size but it is always growing so you can never accurately measure the size at any given point. It's like the uncertainty principal in chemistry. On that note, my friend used the example when we were talking about infinity that the number of atoms that exist is infinite. I said, "No that's not true. The only reason they say that is because no one has the time to go out there and count them." That's what brought me on to the fact that the number of atoms in the world is always changing, just like the size of the universe. So does that mean that infinity is just a concept that people use because they are too lazy to go count something?

Answer 1

These people have very interesting ideas about the nature of the universe. but take it from me, im an astronomer who studies astronmoical and cosmological phenomena on a daily basis. the universe is NOT infinite. i dont want to go into a lengthy disscussion because there are alot of complex concepts to explain in order to understand all of the physical processes that shape our universe. however, the universe has a "radius" of about 13.7 billion lightyears. these measurements were confirmed by the cosmic microwave background radiation predicted in big bang theory. another thing to keep in mind is that we cannot say what the universe is expanding "into" because science only limtis us to thing we can observe. by defenition the univeres is "everything which is observeable or measurable". also these people are misinformed about the "concept" of infinity. in mathematics infinty is real. just because some people dont understand it does not mean it is not real. these people are misinforming you, i suggest they educate themselves in mathematics, physics, astronomy, and cosmology, before they try and answer such complex questions such as yours. i hope this helps!!!!! if you like to read, i suggest reading any book by timmothy ferris, all of his books are great. my personal favorite is "the whole shebang" it will help you to get a better understanding of what scientist have "actually" discovered about our amazing universe!!! good luck!!!!!

Answer 2

The universe is infinite but limited. This is as strange as it sounds. The universe is bounded by the speed of light which limits what can be known about our universe.

When the big bang occured, the universe was smaller than a pin head. As it expanded, it didn't expand into another universe that was already there, it didn't even expand into nothing. It expanded into itself!

A good analogy is what programmers call a "Null" versus "Nothing". In VB or C you can have a pointer to a Null Vaiable which would mean the pointer is actually pointing to some memory address that contains a VALUE of nothing (like maybe a text string that contains no characters). This is not the same as having a Zero value. Even zero is something. On the other hand, a pointer that points to Nothing has no meaning at all. It doesn't even represent an empty (or Null) container.

Answer 3

There is a rough idea of the number of atoms in the universe ... from what I've read, it's estimated at about 10 to the 74th power (a 1 followed by 74 zeros).

If you don't understand everything about the universe, don't worry. Five hundred years ago, the "Universe" was considered to be the Earth, Sun, Moon, a few planets, and a crystal sphere holding the stars. A hundred years ago, the Universe was considered to be our one galaxy and a few fuzzy gas clouds surrounding it. Now we see billions of light years out, and who knows how many other galaxies. A century or two from now, the "known Universe" will be so much more than we know today.

Our best bet is to is to take care of the little corner of the universe where we live, and leave it in better shape for the next generation.

Answer 4

Humans can't understand infinity - so we call infinity a "concept" because for us it has no concrete reality.
The universe is a concrete reality, what is a concept about it is its infinite size - we can't really grasp that.
The universe is what it is, whether we can understand it or not.
I personally have no problem accepting the infinity of the universe, because that doesn't change the reality of what we can see and deduce about the universe.

When you try to use a concept that appears infinite (like the grains of sand on all the beaches of the world, or the number of atoms that exist) we still fall short of the true concept of infinity. Anything we can imagine is still finite, though possibly very very large.

So either you accept that we can't explain infinity, or you spend a lot of sleepless nights worrying about it.

Answer 5

Well, no one is really quite sure what size the Universe is, although scientists know that it's expanding, and accelerating too. If the Universe continues expanding, then it really is Infinity. It will only stop expanding when Time=Infinity, which is another way of saying the Universe will go on expanding forever. However, if the Universe will stop expanding, then there is a size for the Universe. Anyway, we have no means of measuring this distance, and if we can, it'd be a very very large number. Ho ho.

Answer 6

no, infinity is a concept that we cant comprehend. face it, we are not that smart. we kinda know a few things about our universe, what about the rest of them. with the number of stars and galaxies out there, the chances of life on other planets are pretty good. there are probably millions of planets exactly like this one. science at its best is proven wrong more that right. we dont even know all there is about the very planet we live on. jump back and take a good look around. maybe i should light up a fat one. only then will i understand counting atoms.

Answer 7

No, we don't have an infinite number of atoms in the universe. It's just something big, like 10^100 (a ten with a hundred zeros). It's a big number, but someone has a decent idea of what it is.

Answer 8

well...first off according to the law of conservation of matter...matter is neither created or destroyed...only changes form....so, assuming that is true, then the number of atoms is constant.....

just as I think the person above me was saying...infinity is a concept that humans have created...just as is language, and numbers....its all relative....because we dont have the ability to measure a finite end to the universe, it is essentially infinite in relation to us.......

it has nothing to do with lazyness.....its impossible.....how would you suggest that one count all the atoms in the world....good luck with that.......

In general, humans will never know the entire truth....I guess in a sense...truth is infinite....it is forever changing, and increasing, and sometimes decreasing.......

Answer 9

I think the universe is as big as you want it to be. the size of the universe is beyond us and always will until we die, and then who knows. the universe could be an atom in a sea of atoms that make up what we would call god. the universe could be a piece of sand on some planet in another dimension. the universe might just be a thought of mine. as far as i know im the only one with free will. the rest of you are just characters in my life and when i die that's it...

Answer 10

Actually, I think about the number 43, and green things. Those are "just" concepts also. Does that mean that green things are just a concept? Are there an infinity of green things?