THE FOURTH DIMENSION SIMPLY EXPLAINED

51

A ship in a canal could be located at any given time by a knowledge of its distance from some town, since its motion from that town has been restricted to one direction. When space is of such a nature that a point in it may be located by one measurement from some fixed or standard point, that space is said to be linear or one-dimensional. The same boat on the ocean, however, could not be located unless two measurements were given -- its latitude and longitude. The nature of such space is defined by the words "surface" or "two-dimensional area." If, now, our vessel were converted into an airship or a submarine, we should be obliged to add to our other data its distance above or below the sea level in order to place it accurately. With three basic elements (in our illustration; the equator, the prime meridian, and the sea level) and with three known distances from these elements, we can locate any point that comes within our consciousness, whether above, on, or below the surface of the earth. Any additional measurements would be either superfluous or misleading. Hence we say that our space is threedimensional. In this discussion it will be necessary for us to use graphic representations of changes in onedimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional space, and for
Page 101 this purpose we shall adopt as illustrations respectively the movement of mercury in a common thermometer, the movement of the arms of a semaphore, and the physical changes which a jellyfish undergoes in the course of its development.

The rising and falling of the mercury is a one-dimensional movement. If we wish to keep an automatic record of the temperature during a given period, it would be an easy matter to pass a strip of photographic paper behind a thermometer, and allow the sun or some artificial light to darken the part above the mercury. If this paper were kept stationery, the only record we could obtain would be that of the minimum height of the mercury. Therefore, some movement of the strip is necessary. If this motion were to be in the length direction of the thermometer, every part of the paper would be exposed to the action of the light, and no record at all would be obtained. We could obviate this trouble, however, by covering the strip while it moved through a distance equal to the length of the thermometer, then exposing it for a short time, and then again moving it. Thus, without involving a second dimension, we would get a permanent record of various successive heights of the mercury. These pictures would be intermittent, and we would miss the changes that took place while the picture film was moving. In order to get a complete and continuous chart of the changes, we must move the paper in a direction other than that of the length of the thermometer. In short, we are forced to introduce a second dimension. The strip may be moved by clock work, and then we would have a two-dimensional chart, from which we could determine the temperature at any required time, the horizontal measurement
Page 102 showing the time of observation, and the vertical one the height of the mercury at that time. The result of this experiment could be read by passing this chart behind a vertically slotted surface, thus obtaining the effect of a line whose length varies as the strip of paper slowly passes the open space. These variations will, of course, exactly reproduce the variations in the height of the mercury.

Get any book for free on: www.Abika.com