In physics, a continuum is a range or series of related things on a scale where each element has a certain characteristic to a different degree. It is often difficult to determine exactly where one element ends and the next begins, but each one has a clear limit.
Using the concept of the continuum, we can better understand the nuances of many issues. We can view individual acts of violence and large scale wars as two extreme points on an unbroken continuum. We can also look at the progression of a musical style or the development of human life stages and see that they fall within a continuum as well.
For example, a basic continuum exists between those parents who are heavy on discipline and those who take a more child centered approach to raising their children. Another example is gluten intolerance; it is usually viewed as falling somewhere on the spectrum between being able to eat any type of bread and being unable to eat even the simplest wheat bread.
The word continuum is derived from the Latin word for ‘unbroken’. It has been in use since the mid-16th century. It was used to describe both the space and time continuum by Newton, although he never defined the nature of the phenomenon. The concept of the continuum is central to relativity theory. the continuum