/sci/ - Science & Math

>>8274725
>Are Planck units the smallest possible value for a specific physical quantity?
Probably not.

Nothing can be smaller than a Planck length in diameter. something can be closer than one plank length to something else.

Time is a bit beyond m knowledge.

Planck is the smallest unit we can measure, not the smallest unit that can exist

>>8274734
wrong

>>8274743
I'm not considering quarks or neutrinos as points, but as particles with radii, like you are.

>>8274725
its not a quantity, but a distance. It is a theoretical quantized measure of distance but is not verified. There is established, measurable evidence that matter exists in discrete quanta... not so for distance... yet anyway.

Same thing applies to Planck time, as this idea is built on the Planck length.

All this being said, I'm not an expert and can't explain Planck's process or justification for arriving at this distance. I just know that there is no experimental justification for it as yet

>>8274794
Planck Length is the diameter of the Universe when Gravity became a separate force.
Planck Time is the age of the Universe when Gravity became a separate force.

Further, Planck Time is how long it would take a photon to travel the Planck Length.

I'm glad >>>/x/ could help

We have yet to coherently theorize the conditions of the Universe between T=0 and T= Planck Time

>>8274725
Planck units are just units constructed from physical constants, nothing is known to be particularly special about them.

>>8274734
>>8274764
Particles do not have well defined size

>>8274794
The process is just taking fundamental constants like the speed of light and Planck's constant and multiplying them in such a way that you are left with a quantity of distance/time etc.

>>8274743

>>8277232
>nothing is known to be particularly special about them
Planck Units are very special. They are "naturally occurring" units based on the condition of the Universe when Gravity became a separate force, T = 5.39 * 10^-44 sec after the Big Bang.

>>8274725
I'm not a physicist, but here's my understanding. Energy, length, etc. could be theoretically infinitely small, however, we are observing that there is a minimum size. Basically, you have a minimum length/packet of energy, so any observed length/energy can be described as a discrete number of these minimums. That was the beginning of quantum mechanics.

>>8277287
>That was the beginning of quantum mechanics.
no

>>8274764
>points
according to heisenbergs, even particle that don't have inner structure still have a finite volume
"point-like particle" is merely an approximation for practical purposes, similarly to approximations that one can find in mechanics, electricity, or physical chemistry(ideal gas)