How big is the Universe?

[plerza]

So I was bored for a bit at work today & decided to do a little math. I will admit, I trusted KGB to give me the average volume of a human body, which was off by 10 to the -15th. Then, when I 'corrected' their math, I was off my 10 to the -1th, so this is the revamped version. I hope it is all relatively accurate now.

 

 

Measurable Theoretical Breakdown ofthe Universe: A Paper for Amusement

by Pete Lerza

11/10/2012

I’ve done all mathematics with fairlyloose approximations. The purpose of this is not for scientific accuracy, butfor a general understanding of a theoretical size of the Universe. The Names ofthe Large Numbers are in the American Standard form [then the European StandardForm] but not SI prefix or Greek-based forms. I decided to determine whatpercentage of the theoretical volume of the Universe that Earth consumes, thenwhat percentage of the theoretical volume of the Universe that you consume.

 

 

To write a number in scientific notation: Put the decimal after the first digit and drop the zeroes. Inthe number 256,000,000,000

 

The coefficient will be 2.56

 

To find the exponent count the number of places from the decimal to the endof the number.

 

In 256,000,000,000 there are 11 places. Therefore we write 256,000,000,000as: 2.56 x 10¹¹

 

To begin, we assume that the Universeis 13.7 billion years old & that it takes light 3 x 10^-9 s totravel one meter. We then convert the age of the Universe into seconds, dividethe age of the Universe in seconds by the amount of seconds it takes for lightto travel one meter & have an approximate radius of the Universe in meters.

 

 

(13,700,000,000 years)(365 days)(24hours)(60 minutes)(60 seconds) = 4.32 x 10¹⁷ s

 

{432,000,000,000,000,000 s} {432quadrillion [billiard] seconds}

4.32 x 10¹⁷ s is the ageof the Universe in seconds

 

 

(4.32 x 10¹⁷ s) / (3 x 10^-9s) = 1.44 x 10²⁶ m or 1.44 x 10²³ km

 

1.44 x 10²³ km is the TheoreticalRadius of the Universe

 

A Diameter is determined bymultiplying the Radius by 2

 

The Theoretical Diameter is 2.88 x 10²³km

 

 

We know the Universe is not a Circleor Sphere, but we do not have enough information to calculate the dimensions ofan ellipse or elliptical sphere, so we will practice under the theory of whichthe Universe is a Circle, which should give us approximately the samepercentages at the end.

 

 

Circumference of a Circle = x Diameter

 

(2.88 x 10²³km) = 9.05 x 10²³ km

 

{905,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 km}{905 sextillion [trilliard] kilometers}

9.05 x 10²³ km is our TheoreticalCircumference of the Universe

 

 

Area of a Circle =

 

(1.44 x 10²³ km)² = 6.51 x 10⁴⁶km²

 

{6,510,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000km²}

{65.1 quattuordecillion [septilliard] squarekilometers}

6.51 x 10⁴⁶ km² isthe theoretical Area of the Universe

 

 

Volume of a Sphere = (4/3)r³

 

(4/3)(1.44 x 10²³ km)³= 3.98 x 10⁶⁹ km³

 

{398,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0000,000,000km³}

{3.98 duovigintillion [undecilliard] cubickilometers}

3.98 x 10⁶⁹ km³ isthe Theoretical Volume of the Universe

 

 

Measurements in Miles: 1 km = 0.62Miles

 

Radius: 8.9 x 10²² Miles

 

Diameter: 1.79 x 10²³Miles

 

Circumference: 5.62 x 10²³Miles

 

Area: 4.05 x 10⁴⁶ SquareMiles

 

Volume: 2.47 x 10⁶⁹ CubicMiles

 

 

 

The given Radius of Earth is 6,378.1 km. Earth is a Sphere.

 

 

Volume of a Sphere = (4/3)r³

 

(4/3)(6,378.1)³ = 3.46 x10¹¹ km³

 

{346,000,000,000km³} {346 billion [milliard] cubic kilometers}

The Volume of Earth is 3.46 x 10¹¹km³

 

 

To determine what percentage of theUniverse is Earth, we divide the Volume of Earth by the Volume of the Universe.To divide numbers in Scientific Notation, we divide the coefficients, then subtract the exponents.

 

(3.46x 10¹¹ km³) / (3.98 x 10⁶⁹km³) = (3.46 / 3.98) x 10 ^{(11- 69)}= 8.7 x 10^-59%

 

{0.000 000 000000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 087 %} {8.7octodecillionths [nonilliardths] of a percent}

The Earth consumes 8.7 x 10^-59% of the Theoretical Volume of the Universe

 

 

The average given Volume of a Human Being is 6.93 x 10^-2 m³

 

 

We know the Volume of the Earth &the Theoretical Volume of the Universe in kilometers, so to convert 6.93 x 10^-2m³ to km, we divide by 1,000 = 6.93 x 10^-5 km³

 

 

To determine what percentage of theEarth is a Human Being (You), we divide the Volume of You by the Volume of theEarth.

 

(6.93 x 10^-5 km³)/ (3.46 x 10¹¹ km³) = 2.00 x 10^-16 %

 

{0.000 000 000000 000 2 %}

{2 quadrillionths [billiardths] of a percent}

 

You are 2.00 x 10^-16 % ofthe Earth’s Volume

 

 

 

 

 

 

To determine what percentage of theUniverse is a Human Being (You), we divide the Volume of You by the TheoreticalVolume of the Universe.

 

(6.93 x 10^-5 km³)/ (3.98 x 10⁶⁹ km³) = 1.74 x 10^-74 %

 

{0.000 000 000000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 01 74 %}

{174 trevigintillionths[duodecillionths] of a percent}

 

You consume 1.74 x 10^-74 %of the Universe’s Theoretical Volume

 

 

Let me know your thoughts! Anything regarding details that I mentioned, was vague about or just totally missed, email me at plerza@live.com

 

[imatfaal]

In fact the universe is larger than you have estimated - you have used a sphere of 13.7 Glyr radius and it is actually several times larger than that (about 45-48 Glyrs). The universe expanded quicker than imaginable at the very beginning - and even now the background is still expanding. We see light from extremely distant galaxies that was emitted around 13 billion years ago - ie has travelled at light speed for 13 billion years; but the galaxy that emitted that light is now OVER 40 billion light years distant from here.

 

And that is only the observable universe - we have no ideas how much bigger the actual universe is!