What IS space?

[Qfwfq]

...and time is what keeps it all from happening all at once!

[sergey500]

When did he say that? although it does make sense. But it still doesn't tell what it is....any guesses?

[WebFeet]

Originally Posted by sergey500

Space, is something, it is not nothing

HitchHiker's Guide says about space :-
Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is.

What goes on in space depends on how much space you have, how much compression.

So, space is something, it is hugely big and some bits are thicker than others.

Alternatively, space is very very small and there is an awful lot of it about.

[infamous]

Space is what you look for when you run out of room.........................Ha,ha,ha,ha

[Lil'SciWizGirl]

Here's Some Definitions I found:

Outer Space

'''Outer space''' (also called just ''space''), as a name for a region, refers to the relatively empty parts of the Universe, outside the celestial body's atmosphere atmospheres of celestial bodies. The term ''outer space'' is used to distinguish it from airspace and terrestrial locations. As Earth's atmosphere has no abrupt cut-off, but rather thins gradually with increasing altitude, there is no definite boundary between the atmosphere and space. The altitude of 100 kilometers or 62 miles established by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale is the most widely used definition as the boundary between atmosphere and space. In the United States, persons who travel above an altitude of 50 miles (80 kilometers) are designated as Astronaut astronauts. 400,000 feet (75 miles or 120 kilometers) marks the boundary where atmospheric effects become noticeable during re-entry. (See also Karman line.)

Milestones on the way to space
*4.6 km (15,000 ft) - FAA requires supplemental oxygen for aircraft pilots and passengers *5.3 km (17,400 ft) - Half of the earth's atmosphere is below this altitude *16 km (52,500 ft) - Pressurized cabin or pressure suit required *18 km (59,000 ft) - Upper limit of the Troposphere *20 km (65,600 ft) - Water at room temperature boils without a pressurized container (the popular notion that bodily fluids would start to boil at this point is false because the confines of the body generate enough pressure to prevent actual boiling) *24 km (78,700 ft) - Regular aircraft pressurization systems no longer function *32 km (105,000 ft) - Turbojets no longer function *45 km (148,000 ft) - Ramjets no longer function *50 km (164,000 ft) - Stratosphere ends *80 km (262,000 ft) - Mesosphere ends *100 km (328,000 ft)- airfoil Aerodynamic surfaces no longer function Reentry from orbit begins at 122 km (400,000 ft).

Space does not equal orbit
A common misunderstanding about the boundary to space is that orbit occurs by reaching this altitude. Orbit, however, requires orbital speed and can theoretically occur at any altitude. Atmospheric drag precludes an orbit that is too low. Minimal altitudes for a stable orbit begin at around 350 km (220 miles) above mean sea level, so to actually perform an orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft would need to go higher and (more importantly) faster than what would be required for a sub-orbital spaceflight. Reaching orbit requires tremendous speed. A craft has not reached orbit until it is circling Earth so quickly that the upward centrifugal force centrifugal "force" cancels the downward gravity gravitational force on the craft. Having climbed up out of the atmosphere, a craft entering orbit must then turn sideways and continue firing its rockets to reach the necessary speed; for low Earth orbit, the speed is about 7.9 km/s (18,000 mph). Thus, achieving the necessary altitude is only the first step in reaching orbit. The energy required to reach velocity for low earth orbit (32 MJ/kg) is about twenty times the energy to reach the corresponding altitude (10 kJ/km/kg).
__________________________________________________ _______________
Outer space (also called just space) as a name for a region, refers to the relatively empty parts of the Universe, outside the atmospheres of celestial bodies. The term outer space is used to distinguish it from airspace and terrestrial locations. Although outer space is certainly spacious, it is now known to be far from empty, and filled with a tenuous plasma.
As Earth's atmosphere has no abrupt cut-off, but rather thins gradually with increasing altitude, there is no definite boundary between the atmosphere and space. The altitude of 100 kilometers or 62 miles established by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale is the most widely used definition as the boundary between atmosphere and space. In the United States, persons who travel above an altitude of 50 miles (80 kilometers) are designated as astronauts. 400,000 feet (75 miles or 120 kilometers) marks the boundary where atmospheric effects become noticeable during re-entry.

Milestones on the way to space

• 4.6 km (15,000 ft) - FAA requires supplemental oxygen for aircraft pilots and passengers
• 5.3 km (17,400 ft) - Half of the earth's atmosphere is below this altitude
• 16 km (52,500 ft) - Pressurized cabin or pressure suit required
• 18 km (59,000 ft) - Upper limit of the Troposphere
• 20 km (65,600 ft) - Water at room temperature boils without a pressurized container (the popular notion that bodily fluids would start to boil at this point is false because the confines of the body generate enough pressure to prevent actual boiling)
• 24 km (78,700 ft) - Regular aircraft pressurization systems no longer function
• 32 km (105,000 ft) - Turbojets no longer function
• 45 km (148,000 ft) - Ramjets no longer function
• 50 km (164,000 ft) - Stratosphere ends
• 80 km (262,000 ft) - Mesosphere ends
• 100 km (328,000 ft)- Aerodynamic surfaces no longer function

Reentry from orbit begins at 122 km (400,000 ft).

Types of space

• Interplanetary space
• Interstellar space

Space does not equal orbit

A common misunderstanding about the boundary to space is that orbit occurs by reaching this altitude. Orbit, however, requires orbital speed and can theoretically occur at any altitude. Atmospheric drag precludes an orbit that is too low.

Minimal altitudes for a stable orbit around the Earth begin at around 350 km (220 miles) above mean sea level, so to actually perform an orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft would need to go higher and (more importantly) faster than what would be required for a sub-orbital spaceflight.

Reaching orbit requires tremendous speed. A craft has not reached orbit until it is circling Earth so quickly that the upward centrifugal "force" cancels the downward gravitational force on the craft. Having climbed up out of the atmosphere, a craft entering orbit must then turn sideways and continue firing its rockets to reach the necessary speed; for low Earth orbit, the speed is about 7.9 km/s (18,000 mph). Thus, achieving the necessary altitude is only the first step in reaching orbit.

The energy required to reach velocity for low earth orbit (32 MJ/kg) is about twenty times the energy to reach the corresponding altitude (10 kJ/km/kg).

*~*The Girl Who Has The Smarts For Science:

~*~Lil'SciWizGirl~*~

[damocles]

What oh, what is space ?

By Sergey500

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacetime

To begin with the obvious.

1. Space is REAL. It is a physical property of mass and energy. You could describe it as the real manifestation of how mass and energy distributes itself across a VOLUME through TIME.
2. Where common folk(me) get lost is understanding the mathematical descriptions that the geniuses, among us, use to describe it.
3. If you limit yourself to words and try to imagine space without the numbers and the equational relationships among binding forces and particles with which the forces associate, you rapidly go into errors of thought that space is some kind of field or fluid. It is not. It is truer to say to state that the numeric description of space is as real as the numbers that describe the electromagnetic binding forces that prevent your own hand from passing through your body or the strong nuclear forces that bind protons together in a nucleus lattice with neutron spacers making atomic(electron shell) chemistry possible.
4. Space as seen from an observer's viewpoint is elastic in time. The faster you go the shorter in perspesctive the universe appears in the direction of blue. It doesn't make any difference if you move in the local space or if the local space moves past you. The effect is the same.
5. Space is quantized since time is a component of its operation. Whatever physical description the numbers yield about space has to account for the gapping. Einstein wondered about that fact when he imagined what would happen to an apple that fell from a tree and constantly halved its distance to the ground 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 etc. when he wrestled with gravity. He concluded that not only was time a variable like a rubber band depending on the energy pumped into a system, but he concluded that time was discrete in that it came in packets or quanta, that manifested itself as energy. He was aware of electromagnetism and gravity.
6. Remember that confusion of words? Time is properly the measurement of the flow of energy to a "mean" condition. That is a process called ENTROPY. It is as fundamental to understanding what space is as VOLUME and is as real.
7. There are two macro-effect forces(defined by the distance over which the two binding forces have an effect on mass which is grossly apparent to our senses) that define the twin properties of VOLUME and ENTROPY with which we are grossly familiar. One is electromagnetism, which is a spatial inflator, and the other is gravitation which is a mass concentrator. Both forces define the SHAPE of macro-space and are very familiar to us.
8. There are two micro-effect forces(defined by the distance over which the binding forces have effect that escapes ourgross sensory notice). The strong nuclear force as described above is the force that inhibits protons(the quark bundles forming those triplets) from flying apart when trapped in a neutron lattice. More properly it is understood to represent the interactions between quarks and gluons within a nucleus. The weak nuclear force interaction enables all lepton and quark particles and antiparticles to interchange energy, mass, electric charge and flavor—effectively to change into each other. One I suspect is a tractor, while the other may be an inflator at those spatial scales. Take your pick.
9. However you look at it, space has to be itself quantized for there to be any kind of VOLUME. There has to be discrete intervals between the "points, strings, bits, (curly fries?) of space/time for quantum mechanics to make any sense. Yet at the same time the "intervals" must all be in contiguous contact to form a smooth boundary to give space a shape through which energy(bosons and leptons) can "flow".

Are you confused? I sure am!

[lindagarrette]

Originally Posted by damocles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacetime


Are you confused? I sure am!

The wikipedia reference is quite good. You should read it. Spacetime is a continuum. It is not quantized.

[damocles]

lindagarrette

The wikipedia reference is quite good. You should read it. Spacetime is a continuum. It is not quantized.

However you look at it, space has to be itself quantized for there to be any kind of VOLUME. There has to be discrete intervals between the "points, strings, bits," (curly fries?) of space/time for quantum mechanics to make any sense. Yet at the same time the "intervals" must all be in contiguous contact to form a smooth boundary to give space a shape through which energy(bosons and leptons) can "flow".

http://arxiv.org/pdf/gr-qc/0508121

QUOTING the Abstract....

[

Due to quantum fluctuations, spacetime is probably ``foamy'' on very small scales. We propose to detect this texture of spacetime foam by looking for core-halo structures in the images of distant galaxies. We find that the Very Large Telescope interferometer will be on the verge of being able to probe the fabric of spacetime when it reaches its design performance. Our method also allows us to use spacetime foam physics and physics of computation to infer the existence of dark energy/matter, independent of the evidence from recent cosmological observations.

I may be misunderstanding these gentlemen?

edit: Long unnecessary quote deleted. Link was enough.

I don't believe that I misunderstand them.

[sergey500]

It ok people i got my answer, at the smallest scale, between particles there is uniform energy, that all. So it not nothing. First i was going for theory that there is particle that malees it self up and build the unioverse on, but that compleltly wrong. OK now i got answer
Thanks for your help...........unllees my theory makes no sense then TELLLLL MEEEE!!!!!!

[WebFeet]

Originally Posted by sergey500

It ok people i got my answer, at the smallest scale, between particles there is uniform energy, that all. So it not nothing. First i was going for theory that there is particle that malees it self up and build the unioverse on, but that compleltly wrong. OK now i got answer
Thanks for your help...........unllees my theory makes no sense then TELLLLL MEEEE!!!!!!

At the smallest scale we can measure, we have massless photons, which taking them as a particle rather than a wave , implies that at the smallest scale we have a medium which consists of particles and has between those particles, more particles. After all a photon is just unsigned energy.

This would tend to imply a medium consisting of particles, used to build everything in the Universe.