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>and not get blasted by some flying scrap of rock. I think a lot of people don't understand the scale of space. It's really, really empty. The chance of being
by Afforess 13y ago
>and not get blasted by some flying scrap of rock.
I think a lot of people don't understand the scale of space. It's really, really empty. The chance of being intercepted by any solid matter is incredibly low. I can't even make any reasonable analogies to distances on Earth, it's so extreme.
- ars 13y agoLet's try: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%28%28mass+grain+sand%29+%2F+%28%28mass+solar+system+-+mass+sun%29+%2F+%284+pi+%28size+solar+system%29^3%29%2F3%29%29+^+%281%2F3%29 http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%28%28mass+grain+sand%2... Answer: That's equivalent to a single grain of sand in a cube 1 mile on each side. (You'll have to convert the final result to miles in a second step - it timed out when I tried to make it do it in one step.) And this is including the mass of all the planets! (But not the sun.)
- schiffern 13y ago…and that's just for the Solar system, an incredibly busy region by space standards.
- rosser 13y agoThe mean density of the universe is something like 3-6 atoms per M³. When you consider the number of atoms in your typical cubic meter of matter — you, the ocean (water is ~10²² molecules per cubic centimeter), a mountain, let alone things like stars, where most of the matter in the universe is, anyway — that should give you a rough idea of just how empty space actually is.
- kristopolous 13y agothere's a lot of to-scale installations. May even be one in Your Fair City or Town: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System_model http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System_model or if not, try the web: http://www.scalesolarsystem.66ghz.com/ http://www.scalesolarsystem.66ghz.com/
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]