What do they mean when they say space time is curved? I keep hearing a lot of talk about Space Time being the 4th dimension, and no matter how many trampoline examples I see, I just don’t get it.
In: Physics
A line is 1 dimensional, and can only be (edit) measured in one direction. For it to be curved, it requires two dimensions. If it goes North/South, any East/West movement is in another “dimension,” or direction of movement.
A plane figure (square, circle, whatever) is 2 dimensional, and requires three to curve it. Imagine a circle, and it slowly deforms into a bowl shape. It’s moving in another dimension, or direction, to curve it.
Now…a sphere or cube is 3 dimensional. The curve is in the 4th dimension. It’s not a dimension that we can see, because our whole lives have been experienced in 3 dimensions. It can be understood as a continuation of the above ideas…curving an object in one dimension higher than it exists in.
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