What Is The Fourth Dimension? something like a hypercube...?

[coreydresser 0]

paulmason411:That is actually a hypercube, it is a 4D cube made out of 3D cubes, hypothetically. I honestly think that idea of 4D is bollux.

[<?me?> 0]

I think I heard about the fourth dimension when I watched a show about Einstein and the theory of relativity. The three dimensions we knew of were 'space' and the fourth was time. And together they are known as spacetime. The examples Einstein used to demonstrate spacetime have been used to explain supermassive black holes apparently.

[inky-blue-white 0]

This is my first post so I'm fairly happy that it's about physics!Okay, if anyone's read The Time Machine by H.G.Wells [yes I know it's a sci-fi book but it's not far off] then it's based on the principle of four dimensions. If you can represent a three dimensional object on a 2D surface then it stands to reason that you can represent a 4D structure on a 3D surface, 5D structure on a 6D surface etc. But basically, time is [as everyone has already stated] number four and is most restricted, i.e. you can't just move about in time freely, you can only go forward and at a constant rate. [unless you're expriencing a time dilation that is, which even then will only have great effect at close to the speed of light]. But of-course then there's String Theory which theorizes the existence of 11 dimensions, most of which I've yet to research.But someone suggested wikipedia, which is where I'd go.[who said dimesions had to be physical?]

[techclave 0]

I saw someone posting about Fifth dimension as life or death. I have had the same belief. There are many Near Death Experience cases , whom say that , they get suspended at a height above the body .. they also say, they can see things and people outside a locked room , and that they can see through walls. This really makes me believe , it could be the fourth dimension. We could not realize or experience the fourth dimension , as long as we are in the three dimensional world, i guess.. Just like thickness would not be an option for a two dimensional being, the fourth dimension thing would be an option unavailable for our human race on earth in three dimensional form, i suppose. Once, fourth dimension is proved or even given the amount of attention it deserves, i think our scientists and physicists might have some nice projects to spend their entire life on !!! Just as we are wondering about fourth dimension beings , fourth dimension beings (Yeah, i am just assuming ) , might be sitting out there and wondering if there was a fifth dimension above them.. So, why dont we see one dimensional or two dimensional living organisms ?? i believe, we, the third dimensional beings form the basic organisms of a dimension oriented hierarchy .. Or maybe, they exist , but still invisible to our eyes !!! I mean, why do things have to be as what they appear to be ?? Think about it in this way ,.. In our dimension, all matter is made up of atoms .. These atoms, have some thickness, .. Though, highly negligible, it does have a qality , "thickness" to attribute it i guess .. By thickness, i refer to the z axis of a cube, assuming x relates to the length , y to the breadth . In two dimension, things can be made up of something else, .. Say , some form of energy , which doesn't have this "thickness" attribute to it.. And the reason why we might not be able to see it could be the fact that, vision is interpretation of the outside world by our eyes and brain... The two dimensional world might have some form of energy , that could not be interpreted by our eyes and brain.. Maybe it is a form of energy, which can be felt ,. in the form of a pain, or say happiness .. If this is true, we could also be communicating with the fourth dimension in our day to day life.. What if all our prayers to god, is transmitted in the form of an energy .. This energy might be understood by the fourth dimension beings,.just as we can hear sound with our ears,. those people might have an organ to understand what we think .. This makes them superior to us , as if they are the God for our dimension.

[heavensounds 0]

Hehe..the fourth, the fifth, the sixth?? Does it really matter?? Why wouldn't we focus on the first, second or the third dimension??I think that if we manage to understand this world and our lives instead of the fifth dimension..we'll be all much happier!

[fffanatics 0]

Alright since a ton of you seem interested in the dimensions, the first thing you need to know is that are no dimensions that are higher than the 10th in quantifiable terms. My friends is a major math person and just today had a link to the following flash movie about the 10 dimensions and it explains what each one is and why 10 is the highest dimension possible. Here is the link http://www.tenthdimension.com/medialinks.php and if you want to know more about this in detail checkout this book that the movie paraphrases because it seems very interesting.

[inky-blue-white 0]

That's a good philosophy about just being 3D and happy with it! However....it's the annoying human nature to be curious. Unfortunately, this uncontrolable need for knowledge often inhibits the simple living. Also an interesting theory about the fifth dimension being the afterlife. That could also explain some 'ghost' sighting as being five dimesional structures which have temporarily taken on three dimensional properties.However, for the person who posted above, it's not even proven that there's seven yet. And as I mentioned previously, String Theory about 11 dimensions has some good ethos even if I don't particularly agree with the geometric basis. Fundamentally, it's all guess-work as to how many dimensions there are and if you think that your "major math person" friend has a good theory then I will watch that flash video, it sounds interesting.

[caos dreamer 0]

i always thought the 4th dimension is time and never heard of anything else... but the other theories seem interesting aswell

[inky-blue-white 0]

I watched the video on the tenth dimension. That theory is very like String Theory except they've explained it in very simple terms. Well, in graphical terms with the repeatition of the dot-line-fold. I did find that basis more acceptable than the geometric foundations of String Theory however when it came to the overall conclusion of both I tend to side towards String Theory. There's likely a graphically based String Theory out there but from what I can see it would be very difficult to prove! But thanks for posting that link, it was very interesting [and also surprisingly entertaining!]

[Warrockers_Of_America 0]

Think of it this way.... we see a point. That's the first demension. It's not actually 1D, it's just a symbolic representation that we would use on a map for example. Now, what ways are there to duplicate that point on the same area? Another point right? Now we have 2 points, on the same area... 2 demensional! 2 Axis now exist. Now, lets think... What ways are there to have another point, on top of the original point? Add another axis! Now we have 3 axii, and they would have overlapped if it was 2D or 1D. Now, how can we have the point overlap in a 3D axis? We can't add another axis.... that's impossible! But we can duplicate the axis. Imagine a cube with a point in it. How can we have the point in the exact location of the cube, but not actually overlapping? That's the concept of the 4th demension... time! Using different time, we are able to have 2 points in the same space, without overlapping each other.

 

Imagine the transparent cube with a point in it. Suddenly that point disappears. 1 minute later, another point replaces it. We have achieved having 2 points in the same space without overlapping each other by having them there in different times. That's the same as having 2 points in a cube, one closer and one farther, but having the same distance to the 4 edges. While they don't overlap, they are the in the same y and x coordinates. But what changes it, is the z coordinate, which allows 2 points to have the same space, in a different dimension. The 5th demension? Think this: How can we have 2 points, in the same space, and same time? Alas, that is currently not possible, unless the 5th dimension compromises the concept of overlapping...

[itrainmonkeys 0]

A hypercube or Tesseract. I'm just guessing based on my knowledge of the movie Cube 2: Hypercube. Quite the interesting movie. Horrible acting but pretty cool story/effects. Anyway my friend could explain this better but I believe he said something like the fourth dimension is sound or something weird like that. I can't be too sure. It has to do with us only being able to physically see 3 dimensions....but there are actually multiple dimensions after that - that we can't experience.Sorry I couldn't help....but most the people here seem to have good answers.

[TypoMage 0]

I have heard of this but never really looked in to it. I still really do not understand what the fourth dimension is, picture? Or something to explain it?

[iGuest 3]

This is just what I was taught

What Is The Fourth Dimension?

 

I'm sure a lot of what was said is already right, but one thing that I found is that time is the fourth dimension according to Einstein and physicists, but I think what the original question was about is the fourth-SPATIAL-dimension.

 

A while back I was in Algebra II (I think) and I was bored with class so I asked my teacher about the fourth dimension. It seemed like he understood what it was pretty well, but I don't really know for sure. Most of what he said was about the spatial fourth-dimension cube, or tesseract.

 

He started off by saying that there isn't a physical shape to the tesseract, but if you could see it at the most basic level, it would look like a cube (thus the hypercube name). The thing that makes this cube hyper is that every side of the cube touches the exact opposite side. So for example, if the room you are in right now were to be a hypercube, you would fall through the floor, only to come right through the ceiling.

 

This is also how big-bang theorists view the fourth spatial dimension. Normally people think the big-bang was a very dense point that exploded outward, like a balloon that is inflated. However, the more consistent theory is that the fourth dimension is expanding, which gives more 3D space for the universe. This is like if you had a pool that had 100 fish (planets/galaxies) and very little water (3D space). Let's say there was 100 gallons of water, so for every gallon of water there would be one fish, and all these fish would be very close together. Then there was the "Big-Fill-up" which poured 1,000,000 more gallons of water into the pool. At this time, the fish (planets) would have much more water (space) for themselves.

 

But that's just what I heard... Lol

 

-reply by Confucioud

[iGuest 3]

ya 13d

What Is The Fourth Dimension?

 

Whos to say there is not more. 13 so far. Still looking everyday. Better just to stay here. You'll get a try bit and some confrustion. Ya better to stay in 3d.

 

-reply by jimbo jones

[kasm 0]

For public, the fourth dimension is the time as used by the realtivity theory of Einstien.

 

But for mathematians, we can use n-dimension and build theories on them too. Of course any geometry more than 3 can't be represented in the real word.