Dimensions

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Nikki who loved to draw. She had a big box of crayons and a lot of paper. She liked to draw all kinds of things: animals, flowers, houses, people, and more.

One day, she decided to draw a dot. She took a black crayon and made a tiny mark on the paper. She looked at it and said, “This is a dot. It has no length, no width, and no height. It is zero-dimensional.”

She wanted to make something more interesting, so she drew another dot next to the first one. Then she connected them with a line. She said, “This is a line. It has length, but no width and no height. It is one-dimensional.”

She was not satisfied yet, so she drew another line parallel to the first one. Then she connected the ends of the lines with two more lines. She said, “This is a square. It has length and width, but no height. It is two-dimensional.”

She thought it looked boring, so she drew another square next to the first one. Then she connected the corners of the squares with four more lines. She said, “This is a cube. It has length, width, and height. It is three-dimensional.”

She was very proud of her cube, but she wondered if there was something more. She asked her father, who was sitting nearby, “Papa, are there more dimensions than three?”

Her father smiled and said, “Yes, there are. But they are hard to imagine and draw. Do you want me to tell you about them?”

Nikki nodded eagerly and said, “Yes, please!”

Her father said, “Well, the fourth dimension is time. You can think of it as moving along the cube from one moment to another. For example, if you draw a picture of yourself on each face of the cube, you can see how you change over time.”

Nikki was fascinated and said, “Wow! That’s cool! Can I see the fourth dimension?”

Her father said, “Not really. You can only see slices of it at a time. For example, right now you are seeing a slice of me in the present moment. But you can remember how I looked in the past and imagine how I will look in the future.”

Nikki said, “I see. What about the fifth dimension?”

Her father said, “The fifth dimension is possibility. You can think of it as moving along different cubes that represent different choices you can make. For example, if you draw a picture of yourself on each cube with different clothes or hairstyles or expressions, you can see how you can be different depending on what you choose.”

Nikki was amazed and said, “Wow! That’s awesome! Can I see the fifth dimension?”

Her father said, “Not really. You can only see one cube at a time. For example, right now you are seeing the cube that represents who you are right now. But you can imagine how you would be different if you made different choices.”

Nikki said, “I see. Are there more dimensions than five?”

Her father said, “Yes, there are many more dimensions than five. But they are very hard to explain and understand. Some people say there are ten dimensions or eleven dimensions or even more. But nobody knows for sure.”

Nikki said, “Wow! That’s amazing! I want to learn more about them!”

Her father said, “Maybe when you grow up you can become a mathematician or a physicist or an artist and explore the mysteries of dimensions.”

Nikki smiled and hugged her father and said, “Thank you for telling me about dimensions! I love you!”

Her father hugged her back and said, “You’re welcome! I love you too!”

And they lived happily ever after in their multidimensional world.