Basic Question about Atoms

[evolvedForm]

Does everything consist of atoms? If not, what is the space between atoms? For instance, if gas is a state where atoms are spread out, then what makes up the void? I'm reading Democritus and am getting hung up on this question, and I don't know if modern science has solved it. Would it be a vacuum or anti-matter? If so, what is that?

[DonkBluffer]

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what is the space between atoms?

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How about 'space'?

[holland3r]

Vacuum, certainly not anti-matter -- maybe some dark matter hiding in there, who knows.

[yukoncpa]

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If not, what is the space between atoms?
Would it be a vacuum or anti-matter? If so, what is that?


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Luminiferous aether [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[mjkidd]

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If not, what is the space between atoms?
Would it be a vacuum or anti-matter? If so, what is that?


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Luminiferous aether [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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Beat me to it. Bastard.

[evolvedForm]

If it is a vaccum, then the philosophical implications are perplexing. It would mean that a void, or nothingness, exists.

Also, is this something simply theorized, or is there empirical evidence for this vaccuum? (How do you get evidence for nothing, it cannot be seen)?

Sorry if this is obvious to a scientist - I know very little about science.

[PairTheBoard]

Under quantum theory these "particles", like atoms, are subject to complex wave functions so that you might think of them as really being sort of smeared out over the region. At least that's how I understand it.

Of course things like, "particles", "space", "dimensions", etc, are really just mathematical constructs acting as highly technical metaphors for what the true reality is. Very efficient and accurate metaphors for making calculations and predictions. But metaphors nevertheless.

PairTheBoard

[m_the0ry]

Not everything consists of atoms. In fact, if you were to make a pie chart showing how much of the total mass/energy in the universe is baryonic matter (atoms) the sliver cut out is miniscule.

The answer to what is between atoms is a little more complicated. In short, it is ideal vacuum. Space occupied by nothing.

It's hard to quantify the vacuum, but the best explaination I've heard analogizes the vacuum to the ground state of space. This has to do with zero point energy, the energy in a vacuum. Even though some energy exists in the vacuum, no lower energy state is attainable by any practical means.

[Metric]

One of my favorite physics quotes of all time:

"The world is made up of fields. Physically, they do not live on spacetime. They live, so to say, on one another. No more fields on spacetime, just fields on fields."

-- Carlo Rovelli, "Quantum Gravity"

[ChrisV]

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Does everything consist of atoms? If not, what is the space between atoms? For instance, if gas is a state where atoms are spread out, then what makes up the void? I'm reading Democritus and am getting hung up on this question, and I don't know if modern science has solved it. Would it be a vacuum or anti-matter? If so, what is that?

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Imagine two dots on a piece of paper and someone asking "What is between the two dots?". There are two correct answers: "The surface of the paper" and "Nothing". Likewise with your question, the answers "nothing" (or "empty space" or "a vacuum") and "the fabric of spacetime" are really the same answer. Spacetime is like a (4-dimensional) surface on which particles move. It doesn't exert any forces or otherwise make its presence felt, but according to relativity it can be warped by the force of gravity.

btw, it's not just gases that are empty space. The vast bulk of all matter, even solid crystals or metals, is empty space. For instance, steel has a density of around 8,000 kg/m^3. A neutron star has a density of around 100,000,000,000,000 kg/m^3. The difference in densities is due to empty space in the steel, so as you can imagine, there's a lot of it.