Embedded Files
What is the smallest thing in the universe?
... is really the wrong question to ask. At very small sizes objects become 'fuzzy'. You might be familiar with the idea that light has both wave and particle properties, well so do particles.
The electron is probably the smallest particle we know of but it also has wave properties so tends to blur out in space.
So it might make more sense to ask 'What is the smallest distance we can measure in the universe?'
What is the smallest distance we can measure in the universe?
What is the smallest distance we can measure in the universe?
Quantum mechanics not only blurs the boundary between waves and particles, it tells us that the universe is lumpy
So the universe comes in chunks (albeit blurry chunks). Just like the bricks in a wall all quantities are multiples of a single smallest vaue that, unlike bricks, cannot be split.
The smallest possible distance is the Planck length, roughly 1.6 x 10-35 m or 0.000000000000000000000000000000000016 meters !
That is the smallest anything in the universe can be.
What is the largest thing in the universe?
What is the largest thing in the universe?
It is natural to want to know what the biggest thing in the universe is.
This is an easy question: the biggest thing in the universe is...
... the universe!Of course it is.
But how big is the universe?
But how big is the universe?
It is about 90 billion light years across (according to our best estimates).
It would take light 90 billion years to go from one side of the current universe to the other.
Light travels pretty quickly so the distance in metres is HUGE!
About 900 x 1024 metres in fact.
What about everything in between?
What about everything in between?
This vast range of scales is what physicists study - in short everything.
The interaction between energy and matter acts at all scales.
A-level Physics will allow you to dip your toe into the full range of scales.
Page updated
Report abuse