Please explain the hard science, but also show the philosophical impacts and imaginative possibilities in laymen's terms. 10 points to the most complete yet user-friendly and imaginative answer.
2007-10-14 18:32:30 · 5 answers · asked by SPQRCLAUDIUS 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
When I say dimension, I mean "three dimensional," "two dimensional," "four dimensional," etc.
2007-10-14 18:44:44 · update #1
This is a bit of a dodgy explanation, but if you consider that 1D can be a thing with either a width or a length, that 2D consists of both width and length, and 3D a width, length and depth, you can see that the prior dimension makes up the latter by putting them side by side. For example, let's take 1D to be a line. A bunch of lines next to each other forms a square (with both length and width). A bunch of 2D squares next to each other is a cube (3D object). In theory, the only way to put a bunch of cubes next to each other is in a 4th dimension - time. 5D may be the existence of many different times (think 'parallel universes'). This is all theory, of course, but some people have theorised over 17 differnt dimensions.
2007-10-14 19:49:34 · answer #1 · answered by conpanbear 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A dimension is a degree of freedom that a particle has to move around in. The number of dimensions is the number of variables that it requires to write the equations of motion. In 3-D space, you need three variables, no matter what coordinate system you use. For example, they might be (x,y,z) or (r,theta,phi) or (r,theta,z)
Dimensions could refer to physical space but they don't have to. In quantum mechanics, Hilbert space has an infinite number of dimensions. In phase space, the number of dimensions is 6 times the number of particles in the system.
In relativity, time is a dimension, although a different kind of dimension than the space dimensions.
2007-10-15 02:19:22 · answer #2 · answered by Jeffrey K 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A dimension is nothing more or less than giving the units that a number is measured. Thusly the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second, it is also 300,000 km/sec. The speed of light is the same the only difference is the dimension that it is quoted in.
2007-10-15 01:41:58 · answer #3 · answered by peter n 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
a dimension is simply a degree of freedom that is orthogonal to all the other degrees of freedom.
or n-dimensions would have n linearly independent vectors that form a basis of the n dimensional vector space
2007-10-15 03:22:49 · answer #4 · answered by wtjui 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A dimension is a parameter. In three dimensions you have three parameter. The fourth dimension would be time.
2007-10-15 01:44:24 · answer #5 · answered by hmata3 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋