space DEVOID OF MATTER?
494000
They say it is void of matter because it is virtually void of matter as compared to anything we can recreate in experimentation.  There is always some density of matter at any position in our known universe.  The statement, 'void of matter' is merely a generalization.  If it were truely void of all matter then this will constitute a phenomena known as absolute zero in thermo dynamics, which is considered an impossibility.
12959
the answer to this question is not really well-known by the scientific community.  there are a number of competing models for explaining the energy  of empty space.  a good place to start learning about it would be to look up the cosmological constant, which is incorporated into general relativity.  it can be measured and is proportional to the energy density of empty space.  see the link below for more details.
677264
I just answered this on another question.\n\nActually, there is no such thing as a true vacuum...Period!\nA true vacuum has never been created, anywhere, where the atomic count is zero.\nThere is always atomic content left to fill the "vacuous" space. No one has ever been able to creat a true vacuum.\n\nContrary to popular belief, empty space is not empty, and it is certainly not a vacuum. \nresearch it, its true.\n"Empty" space actually contains an average of 1 hydrogen atom for every 32 cubic centimeters of space, this data is per NASA.\n\nIn our own Milky Way, space is more dense with 1 hydrogen atom for every 1 cubic centimeter.\n\nAs of today, light has NEVER been propagated through a true empty vacuum. \n\nOne day the misinformation of space, or anything else, as a vacuum will finally die out.\n\nSpread the knowledge
339011
Qunatum uncertainty says that you can never be certain that space is empty at Planck distances, therefore on those scales there is always some matter-energy in the form of virtual photon / antiphoton pairs that suddenly come into existence and then annilihate one another.  This suggests to me that empty space cannot exist on its own unless there is something in it.  Ultimately, we can spin whatever theories we want and debate forever which ones we prefer - but unless someone can design practical experimental methods, then the arm chair physics will not resolve very much.
574838
It can and does. Most of the universe is empty space, with no matter or energy in it. Unless you mean all of space, as a whole. In which case, it doesn't exist devoid of matter and energy, and it is highly unlikely that it ever would. (Almost impossible, but no one really knows enough to be able to say that, for certain.) But seeing as how space is simply nothingness, I don't see why it couldn't.
829244
I know of no reputable astrophyscists who claim space is empty.  In fact, Brian Greene's "Fabric of the Cosmos" spends a lot of time talking about the stringy stuff that fills space.  The Higgs Field is also a something that fills space according to some theories.  Further, mass bends space, bent space has been observed; so it seems logical that space is a something (not a nothing) that can be bent.  So your premise that space is not empty is widely accepted.\n\nAlthough there are some short-lived massless quanta that can penetrate great distances, most cannot.  And the great distances have limits.  Even neutrinos have a limit on how deep they can penetrate a mass.  Gravity, on the other hand, is not diminished by interceding mass.  We are affected by measurable gravity in the deepest, darkest caves, for example.  So none of the known and theoretical quanta, save one, exhibit the characteristics of gravity.  \n\nThat one exception is the graviton, which is predicted by string/M theory.  The graviton has never been observed; so its existence has never been proved.\n\nSo your supposition that the effects of gravity are due to bombardments of quanta of some sort does not generally stand up to the evidence.  The one exception is the graviton, which is strictly theoretical and may not exist.
621991
I dont have an actual numerical percentage for you, but yes, matter is mostly made up of just empty space.\nThere not only is lots of empty space in between atoms, but also, the atom itself is mostly empty space as well.\nWhen you scale an atom into normal terms, the VAST majority of its mass is concentrated in an extremely mall area (the nucleus) and its electrons orbit very far away (in relative terms).
494685
You must not be a native English speaker. I think what you are asking is:\n\n1. Is outer space empty besides planets and stars...?\n2. How and when did the universe come into existence?\n\nNo; space is not empty it is filled with gas and dust(known as the "interstellar medium"). The density of the ISM varies widely between a few to hundreds of molecules per cubic meter. Even intergalactic space is not empty. It also contains traces of gas and dust. Latest estimates are 15 billion years for the age of the universe
43288
Most energy does occupy space, it may have no volume, like elctromagnetic radiation, but it might still have length in space or a vector associated with it.\nTime does not occupy space, but coexists with it in the space-time continum.\nThought does not occupy space, so reasoning, mathematical calculations, mental gymnastics, silent singing, internal streams of ideas, creative juices, unwritten poetry and some prayers occupy no space.\nEmotions do not occupy space.  The expression of emotions often involves motion in the space-time continum, but the emotions themselves are not physical items.\nAnd then there all of the spirits, from Divinity down.
170260
Space is not a perfect vacuum devoid of particles, atoms, or molecules, it is a partial vacuum.  It is just that the density of matter in space is so small that it doesn't apply pressure against the balloon. If the balloon pops, the air inside the balloon is dispersed at the molecular and atomic level since air is comprised mostly of molecules: O2, CO2, CH4
256332
Time and space is distorted everywhere by everything. That is not a wild statement it is the truth. matter, any matter or energy, by its nature distorts space and time at a predictable magnitude.
737558
space is not a fluid that planets need to float in it is just plain emptiness.
297208
As my education impressed on my mind; there is no empty space.  What we think of as "space" is not empty but a constant dance of virtual particals (protons/antiprotons, etc) constantly appearing out of the vacuum travelling a short distance, then touching and annihilating into nothing once again.  \n\n"Empty" space is filled with these interactions which I believe are known as vacuum fluctuations.  The law of "convservation of energy" is really something that holds on average.  Another principle called the uncertainty principle states that we cannot measure simultaneously the energy and time of a (system of particles?) more accurate than a constantant called h or hbar (a very small but finite number). \n\nSo in theory the universe can "borrow" energy from nowhere as long as that energy is returned before the h bar uncertainty in time runs out.  And thus "empty" space is filled with these vacuum fluctuations and is not really empty after all.  Of course I don't think I explained that too well.  See "In Search of Schrodinger's Cat" by John Gribben for a more coherent description
1043677
A vacuum is a volume of space that is substansively empty of matter, so that gaseous pressure is much less than standard atmospheric pressure. The root of the word vacuum is the Latin adjective vacuus which means "empty," but space can never be perfectly empty. A perfect vacuum, known as "free space", with a gaseous pressure of absolute zero is a philosophical concept with no physical reality, not least because quantum theory predicts that no volume of space is perfectly empty in this way. Physicists often use the term "vacuum" slightly differently. They discuss ideal test results that would occur in a perfect vacuum, which they simply call "vacuum" in this context, and use the term partial vacuum to refer to the imperfect vacua realized in practice.
1057782
If all matter is over 90% empty space, then there should theoretically be small vacuums throughout the entire universe.  However, such a vacuum would be impossible to detect, contain, or sustain.\n\nPerhaps beyond the edge of the universe, a perfect vacuum exists.  All the matter/energy ever can only take up so much space.  However, there is no way to observe or reach that vacuum either.\n\nMmmm... uncertainty!
542537
I would think there may be as many as six. I asked a question on here a few months ago, trying to find out if it were possible for matter to have mass but not take up space and vice versa. I think it's completely possible and if it is, I like to call it inverse matter. That would be the 6th state of matter and might be descriptive of "black holes".
945829
Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space, so that would be people, cars, gases, anything really except for things that are not tangible like thoughts.