Dark Energy & Dark Matter
- Over the past two or three decades, astronomers have gathered plenty of evidence helping us to understand the universe much better
- However, there are still many observations that are still not understood, including:
- Evidence from the rotation and motion of galaxies suggests that there is much more matter in the Universe than we are able to account for
- This unseen matter is given the name dark matter and its nature is not currently known
- Measurements of the expansion of the Universe using supernovae suggest that the Universe is starting to expand at a faster rate
- It has been suggested that this accelerated motion is caused by dark energy pushing everything in the Universe apart
- If gravity is present everywhere in the Universe, it might be expected that everything will one day become closer together, but that is the opposite of what we see
- This is another reason why dark energy is a possible solution which could be counteracting gravity and expanding the Universe instead
I love teaching the topic 'Dark Energy & Dark Matter' to my GCSE students because it gives them a glimpse of some of the mysteries in physics that we have yet to find answers to. Dark energy and dark matter are topics that are covered more in-depth in A Level, so this topic provides a preview that often sparks conversations about studying physics at a higher level. Dark energy and dark matter are problems that real physicists are working on right now. This is the cutting edge of our current understanding of the Universe, and provides exciting opportunities for future physicists to get involved in.
