The universe creates space as it expands,but how does it do it? the space must come from somewhere.?

Question

As the universe expands it's not expanding into anything as space comes into being, as if by a miracle during the proccess. Where does all this extra space come from to accommodate the larger Universe. Since it's out there it must have come from somewhere....Where?

Answer 1

This is a good one. Yes, space is expanding. You're not wrong for thinking that more 'space' is being created. The question really is, what is space?

If space is expanding, then it must be being replaced by more space, right? Correct. To say that is is just stretching would also imply that the laws of physics and mathematics are also stretching with it at the same rate. If space was really just 'stretching', we would never be able to detect it, since every other method of making any kind of measurement would also be 'stretching' with it.

For example, if we take point A and point B which are X billion light years apart, and we wait for time T to pass, A and B will be further apart from each other after time T.
The distance between points A and B has increased.

Now let's think about it differently. Imagine points A and B are touching each other, ie. there is no distance between them.
If you wait long enough, eventually there will be a small distance between points A and B due to the expansion of the universe. So now we have a bit of a problem- when we started this particular experiment, there was no 'space' between points A and B, but now there is. Also, this isn't just empty 'space', it's the same kind of 'space' that's all around us now, space in which the laws of physics and mathematics exist. Put differently, if we now wanted to travel from point A to point B, it would take a certain amount of time to get there, as opposed to when we started the experiment, when it would have taken no time at all because there was no distance between points A and B.

So yes, essentially more space is being created. It's when you start to try to define 'space' that it becomes problematic. To some, space is an empty vacuum. But 1 + 2 still equals 3 in an empty vacuum. So its not an empty vacuum at all, its a place where there are mathematical laws. So empty 'space' is not empty, it's a 'thing' which has specific, definite properties.

Where does space come from? No one can answer this, and if they tell you they can, they're lying. Remember, that to deny the ability of space to appear as if out of nowhere, is to deny the fact that this is apparently what happened in the first place!

Answer 2

The difference between "expanding" and "stretching", for me at least, is that an "expanding universe" conjures up an image where there is a bunch of galaxies floating through space, all of which started at some center point and are now moving away from that point at very fast speeds. Therefore, the collection of galaxies (which we call the "universe") is expanding, and it is certainly fair to ask what it is expanding into.

The current theories of the universe, however, tell us that this is not the picture we should have in mind at all. Instead, the galaxies are in some sense stationary - they do not move through space the way that a ball moves through the air. The galaxies simply sit there. However, as time goes on, the space between the galaxies "stretches", sort of like what happens when you take a sheet of rubber and pull at it on both ends. Although the galaxies haven't moved through space at all, they get farther away from each other as time goes on because the space in between them has been stretched.

Answer 3

A very good question - one worth looking into. Space is not nothing, and nothing comes from nothing.

Astrophysicist Alan Guth has probed into the idea of universes being born, and has proposed that the universe began as a point of decay in a spatial region of higher energy density. What he proposes "surrounds" our universe in higher dimensions is a kind of space he calls the false vacuum, whereas our pocket universe is called true vacuum. The expansion, the "dark energy" could be driven by the kind of energy borrowed from the decay.

Answer 4

I vaguely rememember that the theory is that the universe is like the surface of a balloon, a balloon that has been expanding since the Big Bang - ie the 'space' is stretched rather than created.

Answer 5

Space is a vacuum. It's just a place where matter can exist. As it expands, space is not creating matter. The measurement from one point to another gets bigger but nothing is being created.

Answer 6

No one is really sure where space comes from. It si just there, and it has always been there. That's why it's the final frontier. Actually, I would consider it the "next frontier." Simply because we just dont know what is really out in the far reaches of space.

Answer 7

you approaching the problem the wrong way, space isnt created...its "streched" so that you dont creat more space you just create bigger space. i hope this helps. the concepts behind this are quite complex, thanks to our smart freind einstein, however you can pick up a book by timmothy ferris and it should help you grasp some of these concepts. all of his books are great. my personal favorite is "the whole shebang". good luck and i hope this helped!!!!!!

Answer 8

It doesn't come from anywhere. As I understand it, space stretches, like a ballon inflating.

Answer 9

That question definatley points to ur over indulgence in acid ahahahahahahahaha

Answer 10

I guess that space = nothing therefore you can not have something, without nothing first.
so it's aways just been there