To expand without a true edge?

Headnote: These are merely some thoughts and concepts that I have considered/compiled together recently, I will be moving back and forward to revue them as I learn more over the subject matter. Read, enjoy what is here and perhaps give some feedback of your own.



How can something expand when it has no edge?


First to look at gravity, as that seems to be a significant factor over this whole thought. Gravity is one of the four forces of the universe which holds an attractive force delved from mass. The more massive an object, the larger the gravitational pull, however this is in respect to the objects physical mass against that of outside forces.

To explain that point further, the Earth. The strongest point of gravitational pull on Earth is on it's surface, many believe that the closer you get to the core, the stronger the gravitational pull is, however this is simply wrong. As on the surface you have the total possible mass against you, within the surface you have a smaller amount of mass against you. Basically, when you are on the surface, you are being pulled by the entire planet, as you move closer to the core, you are being pulled by the mass between yourself and the core, as you move further away some of the gravity dissipates. Therefore the strongest point is the surface, where the largest mass is directly against you.

Bringing this onto black holes, a black hole forms from a massive star, when the nuclear gases run out and there is no longer an outward force matching the gravitational pull of the star and therefore, the star collapses in on itself. A black hole isn't actually a hole persae, it merely means that there is an object where at a certain distance the gravitational pull is strong enough that light, ( The fastest known speed to us ) Can no longer escape. Therefore black holes appear to be invisible to us, often with certain flares or rocks etc orbiting them.

A black hole does not hold any different gravitational pull than any other star, if you are the same distance from the original star as you are from its now black hole, you will have the same gravitational affect dealt to you. If the sun was to turn into a black hole, which is of course impossible, then the Earth would still rotate in the same manner and still orbit it in the same manner.

The reason a black hole is the way it is, is because the physical space of the mass is no longer as large as the original sun, therefore it becomes very compact, as such you can get much closer to the core and still have the full physical mass behind it in which case the gravitational pull becomes much stronger.

Back to gravity, gravity is often read as a pulling force from a mass but in reality, when looking over space etc, we see gravity as a bending of space as well, this is why light is affected by gravity. As light still follows the same principles of movement, when space itself is bent around a mass, then the light will follow the tract. So gravity manipulates space itself, bending it as well. This is where the concept of the expansion of the universe came into play.

Original thought being the question... " How can something expand if it does not have an edge. " Scientists will agree that the universe is still expanding but they wont agree that there is an exact, defined 'edge' to the universe and of course, if there was there'd be another side.

So how can something expand if it does not have an edge?

Well, let's look at the big bang, the original point when energy altered to form matter and anti-matter particles, which in turn canceled each other out, with the exception of every billion or so particles an extra matter particle was left and therefore the universe developed in the form of matter.

The universe suddenly formed matter which immediately held a gravitational force and therefore started bending and manipulating space itself. We really have to look at this from other dimensions, fourth in particular although many will go as far as 17 to understand this part better. However basically each particle of matter formed a gravitational field, which in turn expanded and as the universe expanded and molecular density formed we started to gain larger forms of matter.

Now everything within the universe is relative to everything else, as such the laws of physics apply to it. However the expansion of the universe is not relative to anything as it is expanding on all possible points in all possible directions without any specified point to define it by. Think of bread rising in the oven, where it rises on all sides, we would be inside the bread, so everything is relative to everything else, however the expansion of the bread is not relative to anything. Therefore the expansion of the universe 'can' be faster than the speed of light, as it is not relative to anything within it.

Now then, if gravity alters space itself, around each and every form of matter, then if you were to move outward towards this 'edge' of the universe then we would find ourselves moving in a sphere around and around inside the universe instead. As the formation of gravity that we would be a part of and created as well, would bend space around it, thus we could never 'reach the edge of the universe.'

However because we realise this, we can then look at the origins of the universe again, where we see that each formation of matter started to bend space as well, therefore no defined 'shape' could be made and as such there could not possibly be an actual edge, as with every piece of matter was there a formation of gravity and with that a bending of space, then the combination of everything formation of matter would become more like a constantly altering and changing wave.

Thus we can see that although the universe is expanding and expanding faster than the speed of light, it does not have a defined edge, nor is there anything on the 'other side' as there is no exact other side as again, there is no defined edge but a constantly altering formation of matter and space.


Authors notes: Some answers in relation to questions pertaining to this article.


" If gravity is weaker the deeper you go, then why do we feel more pressure? Such as under water, surely this is because the gravitational pull is stronger on our bodies?
How exactly do stars form, if they are constantly pulling themselves back in, they are merely 'massive' fires are they not?
What do you mean by space? Is that also time, light and matter?
Wasn’t there a rumour that as the universe expands it has consequences like time slowing down? Is the universe stretching or growing? Where does the energy for this action come from? If its growing doesn't that mean new planets and stars are constantly being created on the edge? Aren't we expanding into pure nothing creating something as it goes? Like a paint brush over a canvas. Surely something must happen, will it just expand forever? "



A rather extensive list of questions...However I will try my best to work through them...


Water pressure, this is partly due to gravity, though not the gravitational pull against you but that against the water above you. The deeper you go, the more water is above your form, the greater the number of molecules being pulled against you in relation to your body and therefore the greater amount of mass being pulled against you and therefore, finally the greater the pressure. Basically on the surface we have a pressure on us, about 15 pounds per square inch of our bodies from the atmosphere, when under water, we have more mass being pulled against us, the atmosphere and the water we are under, the deeper we are, the more mass, the more pressure. Simple as that.

So yes, it might have brought on the general thought from people that the deeper you go, the stronger the gravitational force but that simply isn't the case.

Moving on... The way the sun and in that, any star works is basically, there is a large amount of nuclear and chemical reactions that are constantly erupting within its core. This force constantly pushes outward, basically like an explosion. The gravitational force of the mass within the sun, or star pulls this 'explosion' back inwards towards its core, therefore the over all effect is a controlled constant eruption of nuclear force and a drawing back down from gravity. This forms into a star, however as you say, eventually the nuclear mass exhausts itself, this takes several billion years.

At this point, the gravitational pull of the mass of the star will draw itself in and there will not be a large enough degree of nuclear eruptions to retain the size of the star and it will quite literally collapse in on itself. At this point, we get either a white dwarf which remains fairly constant, exhausted of nuclear fuel or if the star is massive enough, a black hole. Which I also spoke about before.

Space is a general term for either, molecular particles and energy that have no distinct form or a vacuum. Time is merely a measure of distance, from one point to another, just not a physical distance but a theoretical one.

By the idea of the universe expanding we are talking about new forms of matter being created constantly, this is in essence the creation of new galaxies etc as you say. I don't like talking about the 'edge' of the universe because as I tried to explain in the writing above, that'd suggest a defined figure that is the universe, which is not entirely accurate.

A lot of people state that the universe will reach a point where there is no more energy to form into the expansion at which point there will be no longer an 'outward' push much like the star and the gravitational forces within the universe will cause the entire thing to collapse back in on itself again. Some disagree entirely stating it will never happen. Some will tell you that the universe is not expanding at all and it's merely a misguided view brought on by red-zones within our viewpoints of 'deep space.'

I wont get into that part because, eh', it's too hard to explain...

I care to think of the universe as an altering form, in that some parts are expanding while other parts or contracting in an ever changing complete figure of everything. Where there is no defined exact placement of anything, nor is there any specific time where anything will exactly form, persae. However the universe to me, would be a constantly evolving altering form that changes from mass to energy and vice versa through various means at various times which will forever and has always been happening. Basically... I hope that answers everything.