I was watching a video about black holes, and when they mentioned that Einstein proved black holes exist with maths, it hit me.
I’ve never asked myself that question, how do numbers tell you that something exist in outer space and what to expect from it? especially things that we never knew they existed in the first place (exp black/white holes) ?
In: 407
If I show you a box that has 3 apples in it, close it so that you can’t see inside, I then show you my hand putting an apple in, then my hand again as it pulls 2 apples out, you can use mathematics to predict that when I open the box, there will be 2 apples inside. You made a real-world prediction using math.
Physicists do the same thing, but on a larger scale. Observe what you can, invent an equation to fit what you see, apply the equation to something else and see if it makes a successful prediction about it.
Edit: As pointed out, the premise of 3 apples being in the box could be faulty, which breaks your entire prediction. This happens in Physics too, which is why multiple observations and finding links between phenomena are so important, like a Sudoku puzzle. By ruling out impossibilities, you get closer to the truth.
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