Why would it only expand in one plane not every direction like you’d expect?
Also how is a flat universe even possible? Surely since we live in 3 dimensions the universe needs to be a 3 dimensional shape.
Im probably misunderstanding what physicists are trying to say but that’s why im here.
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Others have gone more into the specific answer to this question, but I just want to point out that “flat” is a terrible term for the layman and should not be taken at face value. This is not uncommon in physics; terms stick around by inertia and nobody wants to change them. It’s important in physics to actually look into the explanation of a thing, and leave at the door any assumptions about it based on a name. Other examples:
“Color Charge” – quarks have no color. This isn’t even really an analogy, it’s more of a mnemonic. The charges could have been named after the three musketeers with equal validity. By extension, “Quantum Chromodynamics” has nothing to do with color or chromaticity.
“Big Bang” – it was not big, nor a bang. The term originated as a sarcastic joke.
“Virtual Particles” – are very much real. In a similar vein, imaginary numbers are not imaginary.
“Black Holes” are not holes, they are compact objects at their center (white holes are not an accepted theory at this time).
“Theory of Everything” – can be taken to imply that finding it means the end of physics research. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“Recombination” – there was nothing “Re-” about it, this is the first time *ever* that protons/electrons combined into atoms
“Spin” – this one is weird because particles are not actually spinning, but they do have angular momentum. So the term isn’t terrible but somewhat misleading.
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