Dimensions in physics
In Science and Mathematics, the dimension of a space or object is defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it.
A line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it. A surface such as a plane or the surface of a cylinder or sphere has a dimension of two because two coordinates are needed to specify a point on it. The inside of a cube, a cylinder or a sphere is three-dimensional because three co-ordinates are needed to locate a point within these spaces.
In physical terms, dimension refers to the constituent structure of all space (cf. volume) and its position in time Physical theories that incorporate time, such as general relativity, are said to work in 4-dimensional "spacetime". Modern theories tend to be "higher-dimensional" including quantum field and string theories. The state-space of quantum mechanics is an infinite-dimensional function space.
Spatial Dimensions
Classical physics theories describe three physical dimensions: from a particular point in space, the basic directions in which we can move are up/down, left/right, and forward/backward. Movement in any other direction can be expressed in terms of just these three. In its simplest form: a line describes one dimension, a plane describes two dimensions, and a cube describes three dimensions.
Temporal Dimensions
Time is a temporal dimension is a dimension of time. Time is often referred to as the "fourth dimension" for this reason. A temporal dimension is one way to measure physical change. It is perceived differently from the three spatial dimensions in that there is only one of it, and that we cannot move freely in time but subjectively move in one direction. The equations used in physics to model reality do not treat time in the same way that humans commonly perceive it.
The best-known treatment of time as a dimension is Poincaré and Einstein's special relativity (and extended to general relativity), which treats perceived space and time as components of a four-dimensional manifold, known as spacetime, and in the special.
Know more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimension_(mathematics_and_physics)
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The notion that spatial volume can be coordinated independently of time is incorrect
ReplyDeleteUmmm...please explain David Chako
ReplyDeleteVisually first time I understood what 4D and 5D look like.
ReplyDeleteVolume is dynamic. By the time you measure it it has changed. Imagining volume as static contradicts the nature of volume. The change occurs within the volume. It is incorrect to say you have volume and then mix time in. The two are inseparable.
ReplyDeleteDrawing the Hypercube # 1
ReplyDeleteFor those who have not... you really need to read "Flatland" by Edwin Abbott Abbott
ReplyDeleteA romance of many dimensions was a good book, thanks for the reference Gary Edwards
ReplyDeleteI have long believed the concept of dimensions is backwards. That is we will not see more with more dimensions rather they are like governors… the more there are the more the control over what we can see. I think rather it is at the point of not one but zero dimension, what I call the God Dimension that all becomes visible, understandable.
ReplyDelete