# An expanding universe? Am I expanding? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 27, 2000, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124 "2000-07-27T23:41:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/21 "2000-07-28T12:19:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by howardsims \* > \*\*Sure wish there was a “Relativity For Dummies” book. \*\* There _is_ an Astronomy for Dummies book available. ---
**Author:** ![howardsims](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@howardsims](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howardsims)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/22 "2000-07-28T12:26:03Z")
Does it deal with cosmological theory like relativity and strings and the umm… whatchamacallit… Grand Theory or whatever? ---
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/23 "2000-07-28T12:37:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by howardsims \* > \*\*Does it deal with cosmological theory like relativity and strings and the umm… whatchamacallit… Grand Theory or whatever? \*\* don’t know…I’ve only seen it advertised…I haven’t read it p.s. Grand Unification Theory ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/24 "2000-07-28T14:18:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by howardsims \* > \*\*Sure wish there was a “Relativity For Dummies” book. \*\* You could try [Five Equations That Changed the World : The Power and Poetry of Mathematics](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786881879/qid=964793500/sr=1-2/002-8595883-6372825) Covers special relativity only and not in much depth but I found it accessable and readable. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/25 "2000-07-28T15:02:32Z")
> [@](#): > > The universe is full of trillions of stars. How come I do not have any stars in my nose? \>\>snort\<\< Bear, you mind if I use this as a new sig? ---
**Author:** ![howardsims](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@howardsims](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howardsims)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/26 "2000-07-28T21:22:27Z")
Hmm… some people have stars in their eyes… ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2000, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/27 "2000-07-29T05:25:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Phobos \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by howardsims \* > > \*\*Sure wish there was a “Relativity For Dummies” book. \*\* > > There _is_ an Astronomy for Dummies book available. \*\* I know I’ve seen Nuclear Fission for the Compleat Klutz ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2000, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/28 "2000-07-29T11:36:27Z")
\*Theory: The universe is expanDing in all directions really fast. Then how come the distance between my nose and the tip of my outstreached finger isn’t getting farther? - howardsims\* - - - Well, this one is easy. - It is because you are infinitely dense. ? - And I did see a “Web TV for Dummies” book once. - And a “Network Administration for Dummies”, too. I’m not sure what to make of either. - MC ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2000, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/29 "2000-07-29T20:51:55Z")
Gosh… Thanks everybody. Especially **jb\_farley** for giving me the setup. And **tcburnett** for using my line from this thread in your .sig. I feel honored that you …uhhh…lepton my hadron line. heh heh ha BWAAHAHAHAHA …Get it?..lepton my hadron… ha, ha. Oh God, I _kill_me. ::sigh:: _Now_do you people see why you should _not_encourage me! Do you _see_what can happen? In the future, please try to remember that every action you take has consequences! ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/30 "2000-07-30T08:12:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RM Mentock \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Phobos \* > > \*\* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > \*Originally posted by howardsims \* > > > \*\*Sure wish there was a “Relativity For Dummies” book. \*\* > > > > There _is_ an Astronomy for Dummies book available. \*\* > > I know I’ve seen Nuclear Fission for the Compleat Klutz \*\* Isn’t that the Chernobyl edition? Oh, and to sum up what we have so far: “When I invited her to participate in a supercolliding exeriment, she lepton my hadron and my liner accelerator shot gluons all over.” ---
**Author:** ![sterwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@sterwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sterwill)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/31 "2000-07-30T18:16:58Z")
… and a good intro to Newton and special and general relativities. Brian Greene’s “The Elegant Universe” (ISBN 0-393-04688-5) spends most of its time explaining the place of string theory and quantum theory, but does a good job explaining Einstein’s work with clear examples. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/32 "2000-12-19T04:09:32Z")
😕 In my little corner of the universe, the rules don’t seem to be as simple as the rest of you assume them to be! My hairline is receeding in some places (have’t measured the red-shift, yet, but I assume it’s quite appreciable!), and expanding in others (when did hair start growing out of my ears??), my abdomen is expanding continously, while a bit farther south bits expand and contract seemingly at random! 😃 The only thing that seems to be constant is my interest in sex and beer! ---
**Author:** ![Hawthorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a4c791/32.png) [@Hawthorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawthorn)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/33 "2000-12-19T05:04:05Z")
If the Universe were expanding wouldn’t everything inside of it be expanding as well? if the universe and everything in it is expanding at the smae constant rate we wouldn’t be able to detect it because we would be going in sync with it ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/34 "2000-12-19T05:28:28Z")
We are expanding, but at a rate too slow to notice at local distances. Hubble’s constant for the expansion of the universe is 70 m sec[sup]-1[/sup]Megaparsec[sup]-1[/sup]. This means that is you are 2 meters tall then your head is moving away from your feet at 4.537\*10[sup]-21[/sup] m sec[sup]-1[/sup] due to the expansion of the universe. At that rate, it would take 7 billion years for you to grow one millimeter taller. After previewing my post I see that **Chronos** had already made essentially the same calculations, but after I did all that work I’ll be damned if I’m not going to post it. Enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/35 "2000-12-19T07:49:55Z")
Isn’t that the Chernobyl edition? Oh, and to sum up what we have so far: “When I invited her to participate in a supercolliding exeriment, she lepton my hadron and my liner accelerator shot gluons all over.” \*\* [/QUOTE] What actually happened was: You hung a muon at her, which how she discovered the strange particle you are… As for the red shift… whatever happened the Soviet Union? ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/36 "2000-12-19T07:55:12Z")
Sorry, Smeghead, forgot to attribute that quote to you. Are you feeling expansive enough to forgive me? ---
**Author:** ![ben901](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@ben901](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ben901)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/37 "2000-12-19T14:53:15Z")
\*\*My girlfriend would like to know if there’s anyway to significantly accelerate the expansion of my… er, uh – of specific hadrons. I think she’s sick of waiting for stuff to start oscillating. ~~ben901~~ ---
**Author:** ![Perderabo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Perderabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perderabo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/38 "2000-12-19T15:30:09Z")
Here is a link that you may find interesting: [If the Universe is Expanding, Does that Mean Atoms are Getting Bigger? Is the Solar System Expanding?](http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/expanding_universe.html) ---
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/39 "2000-12-19T16:16:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hawthorn \* > \*\*If the Universe were expanding wouldn’t everything inside of it be expanding as well? if the universe and everything in it is expanding at the smae constant rate we wouldn’t be able to detect it because we would be going in sync with it \*\* Nope. As said above, the expansion of the universe is only significant over huge distances (megaparsecs…millions of trillions of miles). Also, gravity, bonds between atoms, etc. is stronger than the expansion of space so you are not expanding, the galaxy is not expanding, etc. So, we do have a constant-sized reference frame to measure the expansion of space with. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124/40 "2000-12-19T16:36:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Phobos \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by howardsims \* > > \*\*Sure wish there was a “Relativity For Dummies” book. \*\* > > There _is_ an Astronomy for Dummies book available. \*\* It has a chapter in it about cosmology, but doesn’t go into deep into the “Am I expanding?” question. It’s actually a pretty good book. The technical editing is brilliant… (Oh, I hate to explain jokes, but I guess I have to: **I** was the tech editor for AfD ;-). I found the style to be breezy but not insulting, and the explanations are pretty good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-expanding-universe-am-i-expanding/27124.md?page=3)