The big bang theory

The big bang theory

Science

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Guppy poo

Sewers of Holland

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08 May 22

Just watched Brian Cox in this… and, uh, I’m feeling incrdibly stupid…

So, infinitly small area, infinetely large energy… big bang… everything expands…
Got it.

It’s like a sheet or a balloon (sort of got it).
But, surely there has to be a point from which everything is expanding, if there’s a big bang?

The further away galaxies are, the faster they’re moving from us. Well, since we’re not the centre of the universe, that means the further away we are from a galaxy, the faster we’re moving away from them too.

The same would have to go from the point of view from any other galaxy looking at any other galaxy. Ergo: we’re all moving apart at exactly the same speed.

If we’re all moving apart, where are we moving from? So, where was the explosion, big bang, whatever?

Help! It’s doing my head in.
I’m gonna have to stick to politics…

Guppy poo

Sewers of Holland

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Oh. Got it!
Damn.

We are the centre of the universe.
And so are all other points within the universe.
So, if you drew the line where everything is moving away from… it’s us (and every other point in the universe).

Aha.

MB

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08 May 22

There are different big bang theories. Here is an article that says there was no singularity.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/07/27/there-was-no-big-bang-singularity/?sh=1a567ae57d81

But if there was no singularity how could there be a bang? Nobody seems sure of what they are talking about. Some people think there was a singularity and some don't.

Which makes more sense?

K
within reason

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08 May 22

@metal-brain said
There are different big bang theories. Here is an article that says there was no singularity.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/07/27/there-was-no-big-bang-singularity/?sh=1a567ae57d81

But if there was no singularity how could there be a bang? Nobody seems sure of what they are talking about. Some people think there was a singularity and some don't.

Which makes more sense?
Singularly makes sense, as well as saying it was very small compared to the size of todays universe.
But what does ♾ infinitely small mean? Infinity is not a true (or real) value. It may be fun to think about in daydreams, but it's only an imaginary concept.

Misfit Queen

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08 May 22

@kilroy70 said
Singularly makes sense, as well as saying it was very small compared to the size of todays universe.
But what does ♾ infinitely small mean? Infinity is not a true (or real) value. It may be fun to think about in daydreams, but it's only an imaginary concept.
Infinitely small is the smallest you can get without ceasing to exist.

This is a 0-dimensional point. A singularity.

I bet you're one of these people who say zero is "not a number", that it is "imaginary". For your information, imaginary numbers are a thing in mathematics, and "infinity" is not in that group, and neither is zero.

K
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@suzianne said
Infinitely small is the smallest you can get without ceasing to exist.

This is a 0-dimensional point. A singularity.

I bet you're one of these people who say zero is "not a number", that it is "imaginary". For your information, imaginary numbers are a thing in mathematics, and "infinity" is not in that group, and neither is zero.
Yes, zero is a number. You can do math operations with zero, with the exception of dividing by zero (that's a no no).

Infinity represents an idea, but is not in itself a number.
Other than infinity-infinity=0 and infinity/infinity=1, what math operations can be done with "infinite" that make any sense?

♾ + ♾ = ♾
♾ + n = ♾
♾ - n = ♾
♾ × n = ♾
♾ × ♾ = ♾
♾ ÷ n = ♾

I could go on with this but the answer is always the same.

K
within reason

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08 May 22

@suzianne said
Infinitely small is the smallest you can get without ceasing to exist.

This is a 0-dimensional point. A singularity.

I bet you're one of these people who say zero is "not a number", that it is "imaginary". For your information, imaginary numbers are a thing in mathematics, and "infinity" is not in that group, and neither is zero.
Unless the meaning of "finite" and "infinite" has been redefined, there is no end to how small something can get if it is "infinitely" small.

MB

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@kilroy70 said
Singularly makes sense, as well as saying it was very small compared to the size of todays universe.
But what does ♾ infinitely small mean? Infinity is not a true (or real) value. It may be fun to think about in daydreams, but it's only an imaginary concept.
Good point.

Misfit Queen

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@kilroy70 said
Yes, zero is a number. You can do math operations with zero, with the exception of dividing by zero (that's a no no).

Infinity represents an idea, but is not in itself a number.
Other than infinity-infinity=0 and infinity/infinity=1, what math operations can be done with "infinite" that make any sense?

♾ + ♾ = ♾
♾ + n = ♾
♾ - n = ♾
♾ × n = ♾
♾ × ♾ = ♾
♾ ÷ n = ♾

I could go on with this but the answer is always the same.
None of that makes it "imaginary".

Misfit Queen

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@kilroy70 said
Unless the meaning of "finite" and "infinite" has been redefined, there is no end to how small something can get if it is "infinitely" small.
It's okay if you don't get it, or if your experience with secondary education is too limited for you to get it.

Misfit Queen

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@kilroy70 said
Unless the meaning of "finite" and "infinite" has been redefined, there is no end to how small something can get if it is "infinitely" small.
There is nothing smaller than a single point. A singularity.

K
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@suzianne said
There is nothing smaller than a single point. A singularity.
If there is nothing smaller than a single point then how can a singularity be "infinitely" small?

I'm not arguing with you as to what a singularity "is". I'm saying it can't stop getting smaller and at the same time be infinitely small. The contradiction should be apparent to anyone regardless of someones level of education.

K
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@suzianne said
It's okay if you don't get it, or if your experience with secondary education is too limited for you to get it.
If you want to be argumentative here's something else for you to chew on.

A singularity containing an infinite amount of energy could not result in a finite universe capable of expansion. Infinite energy would result in an infinite amount of mass and, correspondingly, an infinite area of space for containing that mass.
This leaves no room for expansion. But we have evidence of expansion, so infinite energy mass and space does not make for a viable theory.

bunny knight

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10 May 22

@kilroy70 said
Yes, zero is a number. You can do math operations with zero, with the exception of dividing by zero (that's a no no).

Infinity represents an idea, but is not in itself a number.
Other than infinity-infinity=0 and infinity/infinity=1, what math operations can be done with "infinite" that make any sense?

♾ + ♾ = ♾
♾ + n = ♾
♾ - n = ♾
♾ × n = ♾
♾ × ♾ = ♾
♾ ÷ n = ♾

I could go on with this but the answer is always the same.
Just always remember this:
Don't ever divide infinity by zero! It will result in instant destruction of this universe.

s
Fast and Curious

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1 edit

@shavixmir
The business of the universe coming from a singularity, or infinitely condensed stuff, may be just viewed that way because we don't have a theory that conflates Einstein relativity with quantum mechanics.
My guess is there is no singularity if big bang is correct, just a seed of some size blowing up to be our universe where our physics is just not advanced enough at this time to figure it out.
It will probably turn out there are an infinite number of universes or finite but a large number of other universes maybe in other dimensions or bubbles of universes side by side but in a larger universe where ours is some 60 odd billion light years across, we can't see the outer stuff because the speed of light is to dam slow, we can only see about 14 billion light years but it is thought the universe is much bigger than that but that outer stuff will forever be out of our reach at least with present telescopes which only see light that manages to get here. Maybe some time in the future we have worm hole drives or some such capable of going out to the rest of the universe we can't at present ever see or maybe we figure out how to cross over into the other universes some think are there, somewhere.