1. Dark Matter & Dark Energy By: Noah Mossman

2. Why would you want to know about this? Dark matter &/or dark energy is a fascinating topic (at least in my opinion). Mainly because not to much is known about it, and studying it may shed light on some of the secrets of the universe. I have always been very interested in these abstract subjects that most people don’t know about or don’t need to know about.

3. What is Dark Energy? Dark energy is very different from any other type of energy in many ways. The main difference is one of the most bizarre. In any set amount of space there is always the same amount of dark energy, so no matter where you go the amount of dark energy will always be the same. The other main difference is the effects of dark energy. Dark energy is the force that causes the universe to expand, when combined with the previously stated fact that the amount of dark energy is always the same, this results in a terrifying realization which can be represented in a simple cause and effect flow chart.

4. matter What is Dark matter Dark matter is, in some ways, the exact opposite of dark energy, in that, instead of making the universe expand, it holds everything together. Although you should know that dark energy and dark matter are in no way related. There is no concrete proof that dark matter exists, however it is very likely. Dark matter is an invisible substance that exerts a large amount of gravitational force. Also unlike dark energy it is finite, in that more isn’t “created” when the universe expands, like “normal” matter the same amount of dark matter is always here.

5. Comparisons In reality what we call “normal” matter isn’t really normal at all, the ratio of atoms to dark matter is small, and the ration of atoms to dark energy is even smaller. As can be seen in the graph to the right The only reason that we call ordinary matter, ordinary matter is because humans have no way to detect dark matter except by detecting the effects from the gravity of the dark matter, and the only way to detect dark energy is because we know the universe is expanding.

6. Universal Apocalypse Earlier in this PowerPoint I implied that the accelerating increase of Dark Energy was terrifying, and soon you will know why. If the universe expansion keeps accelerating faster and faster, eventually the acceleration of the universe would increase to a speed greater than the speed of light. Although this doesn’t break any theories because instead of actual acceleration it is actually just bending space. The effects of the universe’s expansion is more apparent in far away galaxies, due to the exponential nature of acceleration. This means that soon far away galaxies will go away so fast (greater than the speed of light), that the light from them will never reach us, and they will seem to completely disappear. This will get worse and worse, until only the solar system is left, and then only the earth, and soon everything will be flying away from everything else so fast that the distance between two atoms is practically infinity, but it doesn’t even stop there. Because after that, the subatomic particles that make up atoms will be separated and literally torn apart, until there are “no more” atoms in the entire universe.

7. Bibliography "Dark Energy, Dark Matter - NASA Science." NASA Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 May 2013.. "Martin White: Dark Matter." UC Berkeley Astronomy Department Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 May 2013. <http://astro.berkeley.edu/~mwhite/darkmatter/dm.html Harris, William. "HowStuffWorks "How Dark Matter Works"." HowStuffWorks "Science". N.p., n.d. Web. 7 May 2013..