How big is space in cubic miles

[dkatwa]

Yes, I know, pointless question and will be an approximation at best...however, I want to see how the best scientific minds on this forum calculate the volume of the universe in cubic miles...just to see the thought processes/ formulae, assumptions etc

[Vipers]

The answer is infinite.

[dkatwa]

hehe...that is true..but if we work on the basis that the furthest known object we have found is the delimiter, there must be some sort of rough, back- of- the - envelope calculation that the brains on this site can come up with?
I am just curious how many digits will be attached to the power of 10
:-)

[Zod]

Nobody knows, not even Stephen Hawking and definitely not Richard Dawkins.

[anonymous-user]

dkatwa said:

hehe...that is true..but if we work on the basis that the furthest known object we have found is the delimiter, there must be some sort of rough, back- of- the - envelope calculation that the brains on this site can come up with?
I am just curious how many digits will be attached to the power of 10
:-)

The observable universe is apparently around

2396664370000000000000000000000000000000000000 cubic miles

Obviously nobody knows how much universe is beyond that.

[Simpo Two]

Is 'the universe' the sphere of stuff that's been expanding, or the infinite void into which it's expanding?

[Nimby]

dkatwa said:

...just to see the thought processes/ formulae, assumptions etc

If you mean the visible universe, I'd look up the radius of universe, (= 46 billion light years) convert to miles (x 6,000,000,000,000) and plug into the formula for volume of a sphere (4 pi r cubed).

Not too hard with a scientific calculator.

[Zod]

Simpo Two said:

Is 'the universe' the sphere of stuff that's been expanding, or the infinite void into which it's expanding?

Ah, but is that void infinite? What if there are lots of voids? What if the void is infinite, but there are other universes in it, each also expanding? What if there is an infinite number of voids and/or universes?

[eldar]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I think you are out by around 14,000,000,000 times. The universe is more than one year old

[Catatafish]

The normal definition is that the universe is an inflating space-time thing. Outside of it there is no space-time, and so "expanding into" is a bit of a misleading term. What is there is yet to be observed, but its not the universe.

[anonymous-user]

Simpo Two said:

the infinite void into which it's expanding?

Don't think that is quite how space works. In much the same way as one doesn't ask "is the age of the universe the period since the big bang, or do we count the time before the big bag too?"

[Zod]

Greg66 said:

Simpo Two said:

the infinite void into which it's expanding?

Don't think that is quite how space works. In much the same way as one doesn't ask "is the age of the universe the period since the big bang, or do we count the time before the big bag too?"

Did the Big Bang happen when the Big Bag was opened.

[eldar]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It is quite big!

[qube_TA]

Simpo Two said:

Is 'the universe' the sphere of stuff that's been expanding, or the infinite void into which it's expanding?

It's only expanding if you're inside it. If you could somehow be outside then its never changed at all. It's also only 14 billion years old if you're inside, outside then it may have only just come into being. This is because of the properties of physics only applies to this universe, if there's an elsewhere they'll have their own properties.

[Simpo Two]

qube_TA said:

Simpo Two said:

Is 'the universe' the sphere of stuff that's been expanding, or the infinite void into which it's expanding?

It's only expanding if you're inside it. If you could somehow be outside then its never changed at all.

There'd be a fking stload of planets and suns and galaxies heading your way though

[dkatwa]

Nimby said:

dkatwa said:

...just to see the thought processes/ formulae, assumptions etc

If you mean the visible universe, I'd look up the radius of universe, (= 46 billion light years) convert to miles (x 6,000,000,000,000) and plug into the formula for volume of a sphere (4 pi r cubed).

Not too hard with a scientific calculator.

I thought the furthest object found was 15,000,000,000 light years away?

[motco]

Hitch-hikers' Guide to the Galaxy said:

"Space," it says, "is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space."

HTH

[anonymous-user]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Wasn't the question answered before you even posted in the first place?

[ewenm]

ash73 said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Not a good starting assumption!

Indeed, it ignores the inflationary period.

My working out would be for the visible universe as above, so take the radius of a sphere to be the distance to the visible limit, then calculate the volume of that sphere. It's a big number, but almost certainly nowhere near the true size of the universe (infinite or not).

[annodomini2]

Current estimates put the Universe roughly 90Bn ly across.