• Question: Why do the fundamental constants have the values they have? Why do the forces have the strengths they have

    Asked by eringracecooke to Christina, Jess on 28 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Jess Bean

      Jess Bean answered on 28 Jun 2013:


      Fundamental constants are used in science to standardise ways of measuring things like speed, weight, time and pressure. If every scientist used a different measures it would be really hard to compare results and discuss ideas!

      Force is measured in ‘Newtons’ which is the same as the amount of force needed to move a kilogram of material, one metre in a second. Force is a result of the gravity we have on earth, and is different depending on the weight of the item.

    • Photo: Christina Pagel

      Christina Pagel answered on 28 Jun 2013:


      There are also some fundamental constants in the universe – quantities which if they were different would mean the universe would be a very different place…

      So one of these is the speed of light which is 186,000 miles per second.

      Another constant is Planck’s constant which describes a fundamental property of subatomic particles .

      And then of course there’s pi which is ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter…

      One of the reasons these are called fundamental is that they just are – you can’t predict their values from any (known) theory of physics! ie they’re called fundamental exactly because we don’t why they have those values!

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