The term “spacetime” and the concept of time being the “fourth dimension” appear to contradict each other. Is time actually a 4th dimension, or are all dimensions captured in time?
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Yes it’s a dimension. You have spacial (space) and temporal (time) dimensions. Our universe is 3-spacial and one temporal (relativity theory). Each dimension is a part of the whole.
Say you have an office building with 3 floors, 3 hallways per floor, and 3 doors per hallway. Now your office is going to have a meeting, you would need to know all the dimensions to know where it’s at.
If you just knew it was on the 3rd floor(Z axis) you don’t know where it is. If you knew it was in the first hallway (Y axis) you still don’t know, and if you knew it was the second door (X axis) you still don’t know. Coordinates (2,1,3).
You know the space it’s going to be at, but not the time. If you know it’s on Tuesdays at 9 (T axis), now you know all the dimensions of your meeting. Because that office is going to be a different meeting at 9 on Wednesday, it’s a different object. Without all four pieces you don’t have a complete object.
Missing time is just as important as say missing the floor number.
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