How does gravity stretch space?
Gravity is the curvature of spacetime It is here that Einstein connected the dots to suggest that gravity is the warping of space and time. Gravity is the curvature of the universe, caused by massive bodies, which determines the path that objects travel. That curvature is dynamical, moving as those objects move.
Does gravity affect space?
Every object in space exerts a gravitational pull on every other, and so gravity influences the paths taken by everything traveling through space. It is the glue that holds together entire galaxies. It keeps planets in orbit.
Does gravity distort time and space?
The gravitational field is really a curving of space and time. The stronger the gravity, the more spacetime curves, and the slower time itself proceeds. Gravitational time dilation occurs whenever there is difference in the strength of gravity, no matter how small that difference is.
What do you call a force that counteracts gravity and causes the universe to expand?
Dark energy is the name given to the mysterious force that’s causing the rate of expansion of our universe to accelerate over time, rather than to slow down. That’s contrary to what one might expect from a universe that began in a Big Bang. Astronomers in the 20th century learned the universe is expanding.
How does gravity cause the universe to contract on itself?
In the Big Crunch Theory it says that gravity (curvature in space-time) will stop the universe’s expansion and gravity will cause the universe to contract on itself. My question is if gravity is a curvature in space into which other objects fall into, how does that cause space to contract on itself?
Does the universe expand into anything outside of space?
The universe does not expand “into” anything and does not require space to exist “outside” it. Technically, neither space nor objects in space move. Instead it is the metric (which governing the size and geometry of spacetime itself) that changes in scale.
How does the expansion of the universe relate to general relativity?
As an effect of general relativity, the expansion of the universe is different from the expansions and explosions seen in daily life. It is a property of the universe as a whole and occurs throughout the universe, rather than happening just to one part of the universe.
Does the rubber sheet expand and contract like the universe?
However the rubber sheet as a whole can expand and contract, and this is an analogy for how spacetime as a whole expands and contracts. For a closed universe you have to imagine the rubber sheet expanding at early times as the universe expands, reaching a maximum stretch, then shrinking again at later times as the universe contracts.