Thread: The Big Rip

I am not sure if I fully understand the concept so please correct me if I'm wrong. The theory, I think goes like this the constantly expanding universe will expand so quickly that atoms themselves will rip apart in simple terms (please correct if I'm wrong in any way).

There seems to be some flaws in my opinion to this theory.

1) If it really was able to go that fast in the future wouldn't time be also slowed down VERY much due to the fact that as you approach the speed of light slows down till infinity the closer you get to infinity. So basically we could have infinity years of universe existence before the atoms would rip apart if they ever do.

2) If all the atoms rip apart wouldn't there just be a ton of energy and that energy would then form to matter?

I don't understand how the universe could just "disintegrate" as they say from this

1) If it really was able to go that fast in the future wouldn't time be also slowed down VERY much due to the fact that as you approach the speed of light slows down till infinity the closer you get to infinity. So basically we could have infinity years of universe existence before the atoms would rip apart if they ever do.

Not really, because atoms becoming unstable locally would already happen long before metric expansion between two points within their volume produces apparent velocity anywhere close to relatistic speeds. Also bear in mind that metric expansion affects only the spatial part of the metric, but not time.

2) If all the atoms rip apart wouldn't there just be a ton of energy and that energy would then form to matter?

Yes, there would be lots of energy, but no possibility of it forming any type of stable matter, due to the ongoing metric expansion.

Originally Posted by Markus Hanke

1) If it really was able to go that fast in the future wouldn't time be also slowed down VERY much due to the fact that as you approach the speed of light slows down till infinity the closer you get to infinity. So basically we could have infinity years of universe existence before the atoms would rip apart if they ever do.

Not really, because atoms becoming unstable locally would already happen long before metric expansion between two points within their volume produces apparent velocity anywhere close to relatistic speeds. Also bear in mind that metric expansion affects only the spatial part of the metric, but not time.

2) If all the atoms rip apart wouldn't there just be a ton of energy and that energy would then form to matter?

Yes, there would be lots of energy, but no possibility of it forming any type of stable matter, due to the ongoing metric expansion.

I don't think I understand the expanding universe concept fully then. I thought that all galaxies were moving away from some "middle of the universe" position at quicker and quicker speeds.

But what I think you said is that it really is just expanding itself, like the bonds between atoms are expanding until the point where they "explode" would that be the right word? Like a nuclear explosion

Originally Posted by ScienceNoob

I thought that all galaxies were moving away from some "middle of the universe" position at quicker and quicker speeds.

Not quite. The universe has no centre, so all galaxies are moving away from each other. No matter where you are located in the universe, it will always appear to you as if everything else recedes away. It's like raisins in a cake baking in the oven - as the dough expands, all raisins move away from all other raisins, since the dough between them expands everywhere equally.

But what I think you said is that it really is just expanding itself, like the bonds between atoms are expanding until the point where they "explode" would that be the right word?

Well, the details are rather more complicated, but I think you got the basic idea.

Originally Posted by Markus Hanke

Originally Posted by ScienceNoob

I thought that all galaxies were moving away from some "middle of the universe" position at quicker and quicker speeds.

Not quite. The universe has no centre, so all galaxies are moving away from each other. No matter where you are located in the universe, it will always appear to you as if everything else recedes away. It's like raisins in a cake baking in the oven - as the dough expands, all raisins move away from all other raisins, since the dough between them expands everywhere equally.

But what I think you said is that it really is just expanding itself, like the bonds between atoms are expanding until the point where they "explode" would that be the right word?

Well, the details are rather more complicated, but I think you got the basic idea.

Well then why is our galaxy going to intersect with the Andromeda galaxy in a billion years or so? If what you say is true then galaxies shouldn't collide, should they?

Well then why is our galaxy going to intersect with the Andromeda galaxy in a billion years or so? If what you say is true then galaxies shouldn't collide, should they?

the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy are considered to be bound gravitationally and this binding force is larger than the expansion force. same way our solar system isn't affected by the expansion.

Put two ants on a rubber band. The ants want to move towards each other but will stop once they bump in to each other. Now stretch the rubber band. If you stretch it slowly, they'll move back together just as fast as you stretch it, while another ant with no interest in those two will be moved away from them. If you stretch it fast enough though, they can't keep up and will become separated. This analogy applies to all the various forces binding us in various ways. The only difference is how fast you need to stretch things to overcome each one.

I see thank you for all the responses everyone, I very much appreciate it.

Originally Posted by ScienceNoob

1) If it really was able to go that fast in the future wouldn't time be also slowed down VERY much due to the fact that as you approach the speed of light slows down till infinity the closer you get to infinity. So basically we could have infinity years of universe existence before the atoms would rip apart if they ever do.

I am asking, but right here are you implying that light travels at an infinite speed? If so, then light travels at a finite speed known as the speed of light or "c" aprox. 187,000mps

Originally Posted by MindlessMath

Originally Posted by ScienceNoob

1) If it really was able to go that fast in the future wouldn't time be also slowed down VERY much due to the fact that as you approach the speed of light slows down till infinity the closer you get to infinity. So basically we could have infinity years of universe existence before the atoms would rip apart if they ever do.

I am asking, but right here are you implying that light travels at an infinite speed? If so, then light travels at a finite speed known as the speed of light or "c" aprox. 187,000mps

Thanks, no I was not implying that light travels at infinite speed the post says that as we approach the speed of light time would slow down infinitely as you got infinitely more close but not to the speed of light.

Light, especially limited to the human visible spectrum travels at around 300,000 meters per second. This is not fast in vast space. We can see things many many light years away. Visible light is also a very small portion of the whole of the electromagnetic spectrum. Also the speed of light I think is slowed when not in a vacuum, and I am not sure that there is such thing as a total vacuum. For us humans, this does help us to an extent in time travel exploration. The space telescope can look so far in space that they can see light emanations from billions of years in the past.

Originally Posted by ScienceNoob

Thanks, no I was not implying that light travels at infinite speed the post says that as we approach the speed of light time would slow down infinitely as you got infinitely more close but not to the speed of light.

Alright got confused