Please explain like I’m actually 5. I’m scientifically illiterate.
In: 172
Draw a dot. That’s a point. It’s zero-dimensional – you can’t pick any spot on it, it’s just a single spot.
Add a second point to the right and connect the two. You’ve just made a line, a one-dimensional object. **One** dimensional, because if point A is at 0, and point B is at 100, then you only need **one** number to choose a point on the line. This line is defined by two points, one at each end.
Now take that line and move it down, connecting the endpoints via two new lines. You’ve just made a square, a two-dimensional object. **Two** dimensional, because we now need **two** numbers to define a point in the square – one for how far left/right we are, and one to for far up/down we are. This square is defined by four points, one at each corner, and contained by four lines.
Now take that square and pull it out of the page, connecting each corner of the original square to a corner of the new square. You’ve just made a cube, a three-dimensional object. Three dimensional, because three numbers define a point inside the square – left/right, up/down, and closer/further from the page. This cube is contained by 6 squares (one for each face), 12 lines (each edge) and eight points, one at each corner.
Now take that cube and move it into a fourth dimension, connecting each corner of the cube to a corner of the new cube. You’ve just made a **tesseract** (finally!), a four-dimensional object. Four dimensional, because four numbers define a point inside the tesseract – left/right, up/down, closer/further, and thataway/thisaway (or whatever you want to call movement in the 4th dimension). This tesseract is contained by eight cubes, 24 squares, 32 lines and 16 points.
Latest Answers