The Fourth Dimension
The fourth dimension is (so far) just a theory! There are two main types of fourth dimensional theories: one theorized by mathematicians (Euclidean space) and one theorized by physicists (space-time).
It's hard to picture what the fourth dimension may look like. However, the following images should help.
It's hard to picture what the fourth dimension may look like. However, the following images should help.
Euclidean space
Euclidean space involves the idea of a fourth dimension.
It's easy to imagine one, two, and three dimensional spaces because we encounter these every day. However, visualizing the fourth dimensional space is much harder. For some, it may be easy to simply picture a fourth dimension as an extra axis on the x-y-z coordinate plane system. Just as the three-dimensional system, all four of the axes in this system would be perpendicular to each other. On the right, the first image is an example of a four-dimensional axis system. In mathematics, the fourth axis is usually labelled 'w'. Therefore, a point in fourth-dimensional space would have four coordinates instead of the traditional two or three: (x, y, z, w). The next two images show examples of using three-dimensional shapes (cubes) to create fourth-dimensional shapes (tesseracts). Since the 'sides' of 3D objects are 2D shapes, then the 'sides' of 4D objects are theorized to be 3D shapes. This is made more clear in the pictures to the right. |
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spacetime
Spacetime is a theory of the fourth dimension that is traditionally associated with physics: specifically, Einstein. Einstein visualized a fourth dimension with units of time instead of distance.
Einstein's theory about space-time is responsible for many theories of modern physics, including gravity and the fabric of space-time. It is theorized that the force of gravity that attracts objects towards the center of the earth is caused by the bending of space-time around large, massive objects (like the earth). The idea of spacetime is also hard to grasp, because it deals with the future and past as a form of math. However, it is useful for showing how complex events at very high speeds play out. It also shows events as functions of time and can be used to visually demonstrate cosmological phenomenon. |
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