Abstract
I FIND certain difficulties in connexion with the mass of the universe considered as a finite sphere of radius 4.9 × 1023 miles and of volume 5.2 × 1071 cubic miles. Eddington gives the mass of the universe as 1022 stars averaging our sun in weight. Taking 2.0 × 1027 tons as the sun's weight, then the mass of the universe would be 2.0 × 1049 tons. There are, says Eddington, 1.575 × 1079 electrons and an equal number of protons in the universe. Assuming the mass of these units to be respectively 9.038 × 10π28 gm. and 1.65 × 10π24 gm., then weight of the electrons must be 1.4235 × 1052 gm. and that of the protons 2.598 × 1055 gm.; their combined masses would amount to 2.599 × 1055 gm. or 2.55 × 1049 tons, which is a fairly close approximation to the weight of the universe calculated on the basis of stars.
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BEADNELL, C. The Mass of the Universe. Nature 145, 549 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/145549a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/145549a0
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