Does a straight line actually exist?

particles, atoms, planet and stars are round. The universe is probably round if not curved therefore a straight line as we see it does not say it.

However it could exist if it went through the space/time continuum

we generally accept that light itself travels in 'straight' lines


even whenever light itself bends around a gigantic gravity source
(like gravitational lensing around a Galaxy) the light is still considered
to be traveling in a 'straight' line.


so too, would be an imaginary line traveling in a specific direction...
lets say West, and continuing in a due West direction for the full circumfrence of the Earth should be considered a 'straight' line.

(well a 'line segment' if i recall HS geometry, because a 'line' goes for infinity )

Originally posted by TheOracle
particles, atoms, planet and stars are round.

All of the above is wrong.

a) Particles such as leptons and quarks, they way we know them now, are point-like and without shape
b) round planets do not exist. All of them are ellipsoids, and some are so to a fairly large degree (i.e. they are oblate objects and not spheres); Same applies to many stars (they rotate, hence oblate)
c) you can't say an atom is round because it's a quantum mechanical object; yes, there maybe spherical symmetry in the wave function that describes a particular atom, such as hydrogen, but there are plenty of atoms that do nat have this kind of symmetry.

Peace.


[edit on 20-12-2007 by buddhasystem]

Originally posted by buddhasystem

Originally posted by TheOracle
particles, atoms, planet and stars are round.

All of the above is wrong.

a) Particles such as leptons and quarks, they way we know them now, are point-like and without shape
b) round planets do not exist. All of them are ellipsoids, and some are so to a fairly large degree (i.e. they are oblate objects and not spheres); Same applies to many stars (they rotate, hence oblate)
c) you can't say an atom is round because it's a quantum mechanical object; yes, there maybe spherical symmetry in the wave function that describes a particular atom, such as hydrogen, but there are plenty of atoms that do nat have this kind of symmetry.

Peace.


[edit on 20-12-2007 by buddhasystem]

I meant round in shape, well you get the idea. I know it's not a perfect circular shape.

I just had a thought. . .

If you were to enter a black hole, would you travel in a "straight line" to the singularity?

Could the extreme gravity here overcome the curvature of the universe and allow for a truely straight vector?

Again, just a thought.

2PacSade-

[edit on 20-12-2007 by 2PacSade]

Originally posted by 2PacSade
I just had a thought. . .

If you were to enter a black hole, would you travel in a "straight line" to the singularity?

Could the extreme gravity here overcome the curvature of the universe and allow for a truely straight vector?

Again, just a thought.

2PacSade-

[edit on 20-12-2007 by 2PacSade]

I believe time may be the straight line you are looking for. It's hard to imagine time as a direction but I see it as a straight line that the whole universe travels along. This video is a good one to watch to try and imagine all the different dimensions that supposedly exist.