How can the universe not have a center?

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If I understand the big bang theory correctly our whole universe was in a hot dense state. And then suddenly, rapid expansion happened where everything expanded outwards presumably from the singularity. We know for a fact that the universe is expaning and has been expanding since it began. So, theoretically if we go backwards in time things were closer together. The more further back we go, the more closer together things were. We should eventually reach a point where everything was one, or where everything was none (depending on how you look at it). This point should be the center of the universe since everything expanded from it. But after doing a bit of research I have discovered that there is no center to the universe. Please explain to me how this is possible.

Thank you!

In: Physics

50 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

I find the balloon metaphor, though flawed and incomplete, helps with wrapping our 3D heads around the issue of the center. If you take a balloon and inflate it the surface area grows in all directions. Any 2 spots on the surface will grow away from each other. If you were a 2 dimensional being living on the surface you would see everything moving away from you regardless of where you stood. From the point of view of a 2D being there is no center to the surface of the balloon because the center exists in the 3rd dimension. We are in a 3 dimensional state of expansion the supposed center is not.

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