
Originally Posted by
somfooleishfool
does time have an elementary unit or can it always be broken into smaller units of time?
As far as I know this is not known. There are some theories that are based on time and space being quantized (loop quantum gravity, maybe, but like John I am out of my depth). But relativity and the standard model of quantum theory assumes they are both continuous (even if the Planck level sets limits on what we can meaningfully say at small dimensions).
If it is the case that a second can be infinitely divided then could someone help me get my head around what I've just read? If there is infinite moments in time before a second passes, then how does that second pass.
That sounds like a variation of Zeno's paradox. As such, if there is a problem there at all, then it is solved by the mathematics of limits: an infinite number of infinitely small steps still add up to one second. In the same way that 1.9999... = 2 or, to put it another way:
An infinite crowd of mathematicians enters a bar.
The first one orders a pint, the second one a half pint, the third one a quarter pint...
"I understand", says the bartender - and pours two pints.