Is there a limit to small?

Question

I don't see how there could ever be a limit to how small Anything could Get, Wouldn't it Be possible to take half of a measurement, and keep dividing it in half for Eternity, and Never ever have an end?

Well the atom is as little as we Know, But i know there is Smaller than an atom. I am wondering, if there is a limit Beyond that, Could there ever be something too small, Is small Infinite?

Answer 1

Once you get to the size of an atom, the meaningfulness of further "smallness" is academic. They're the building blocks of the universe, after all...the pixels on the monitor of reality.

Answer 2

Theoretically, there is no limit to how small a measurement can get. You can always do what you said, and divide a measurement in half.

However, also theoretically, there is a limit to how small something can be. Currently, an electron is the smallest component of matter. An atom is understood to be a collection of protons, neutrons and electrons, with electrons being the smallest. Until someone determines what (if any) components exist that make up an electron, that is the smallest that something can be. And even then, electrons don't really exist on their own. They generally exist as part of an atom or traveling from one atom to another.

Answer 3

Infinity may be a concept and not a reality, something that makes our math work out but non-existent. Is there a smallest unit of time? Are the three spatial dimensions we know of infinite? Just because we can't see the end doesn't mean it isn't there.
Remember that extrapolating is dangerous sometimes. Taking a physical law that works under the conditions we're able to observe and assuming it works for all conditions is taking a chance. No mathematical model perfectly matches reality. Or if it did, we wouldn't know it. We can't make measurements to infinite precision. We can't verify laws experimentally under all conditions.

Answer 4

Sure, you could divide that measurement in half for ever and ever and you would have a really small measurement but there might not be anything that small in the universe. There has not been a particle discovered that cannot possibly be split, but in an atom there are protons and neutrons and electrons, the latter being the smallest of the three. Making up neutrons and protons are quarks, and making up quarks are leptons and there are tons more particles. Neutrinos have such a small mass that it cannot be measured using current technology. Check these wiki pages for more info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subatomic_particle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_particles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_particle_discoveries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrino

Answer 5

Theoretically there is no limit because of the infinite halving of a thing but I think the small limit is real and is the smallest complete thing in our universe. That thing is an atom. My reasoning is that an atom is our reality for solid. Atoms are not solid but an atom is our solid reality. Strings are energy so are not solid. This, I know, is weak but it is my thinking on what is small.

Answer 6

You are leaving the realm of physics and entering philosophy. In math there is no such thing as the smallest number, nor is there such thing as the largest. When it comes to the physical world this may or may not be true. It can neither be proven or disproven so far.

These are the thoughts of brilliant minds and stoners alike. Ever watch the bathroom scene in Animal House?

Answer 7

the smallest that yo can get to is called the planck distance, you cannot go any smaller than that. the distance is smaller than an atom, and smaller than the building blocks of an atom, and smaller than the building blocks of those building blocks (quarks).

Answer 8

Physicists have come up with a concept known as "Planck length" to answer that sort of question (and there is a corollary to that known as "Planck time").





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Answer 9

This is exactly classical way of thinking.Quantum mechanically,the objects are made of quantas/ discrete particlesincapable of being subdivided.