# Is spacetime not the same as space and time ?

1. Nov 11, 2012

### Atheists Era

is spacetime not the same as space and time ??

please explain what's the difference between "spacetime" and, space and time ?

i heard space has it's own properties and time has it's own properties but "spacetime" has completely different properties. Please explain. Thanks

2. Nov 11, 2012

### phinds

Space and time are classical physics concepts. Einstein showed that they are actually both parts of one entity, spacetime. Google "general relativity"

3. Nov 11, 2012

### lingualatina

You can think of space and time as two sides of the same coin, which would be spacetime. This is the main idea behind general relativity. Space and time are two separate things, but are united (some prefer "married") by the theory of relativity.

4. Nov 12, 2012

### RUTA

In Newtonian spacetime, everyone agrees on the spatial separation $$\Delta x = \sqrt{x^{2} + y^{2} + z^{2}}$$ of events and the temporal separation of events $$\Delta t$$
In special relativity, everyone agrees on the spatiotemporal distance between events $$c^{2} \tau^{2} = \sqrt{c^{2}t^{2} - x^{2} - y^{2} - z^{2}}$$ but not the spatial $$\Delta x =\sqrt{- x^{2} - y^{2} - z^{2}}$$ and temporal $$ct$$ components individually.

5. Nov 15, 2012

### ImaLooser

Newton thought that space and time were independent, but they aren't. This interdependence is known as spacetime.