Thank you bapowell, this reply plus time pondering helped me imagine it better at all scales.
I'd heard about (but not understood) the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Rip" ; it didn't occur to me that expansion was a factor at very small scales.
I see that...
I think I get it now. I thought "volume" here meant an "http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/volume" ").
I apologize, I guess I needed to take more deep breaths. I hope there aren't too many like me who stumble in here needing clues, overwhelmed from reading pop physics.
Thank you bapowell. I'm afraid I'm not quite there yet...
Perhaps my problem is that, in terms of area, "3D volume" and "space" seem equivalent to me. Which leaves me still wondering how "infinite volume" could expand. I'm sure it's just my limited imagination, I don't see how an infinite...
First, as soon as I read WannabeNewton's reply, I realized my ambition was really just to know if despite the vastly different percentage rate of spatial expansion, the distance of the expansion was constant. After I googled "Power Law" I think I understood the answer was "no".
Had I stuck...
Thank you bapowell, I may have a shot at understanding this.
Since this example uses a two-dimensional object (the rubber sheet) to stand for (three-dimensional) volume, does that mean that it's spatial expansion involves a dimension beyond three?
Thank you very much for your wonderful replies, marcus.
I do understand that Green's book is largely speculative (and simplified), and I'm simply seeking a grasp of the bases of that speculation.
(Speaking of "speculation", I guess I'm interested in it because it seems to me that quantum...
Since I see the Big Bang was the beginning of space; if space is infinite, does that mean that space can expand at an infinite rate?
(Thanks in advance from this layman; I've started Brian Greene's "Hidden Reality" and despite laymen being it's target audience, I'm stuck on this question.)