1. Scaling the Universe

2. Human Hair 10 -4 meters (Size of KY) Human Cell 10 -5 meters (Distance to Frankfort)

3. Bacteria 10 -6 meters (Size of UK, a kilometer or so) Virus 10 -8 meters (Size of 10 meter)

4. Small Molecules 10 -9 meters (Size of 1 meter)) Atom 10 -11 meters (Size of 1 centimeter) Nucleus 10 -15 meters (Size of a Bacteria)

5. Nice sketch and image of an atom

6. Size of atom and nucleus Typical atomic size 1 x 10 -10 meters Typical atomic size 1 x 10 -10 meters That means 20 million atoms lined up That means 20 million atoms lined up end-to-end are about this long - end-to-end are about this long - Typical nucleus size 1 x 10 -15 meters That’s about 100,000 times smaller. Nucleus takes up about 0.0000000000001% of the space in an atom. What makes up the other 99.9999999999999% of the atom? 99.9999999999999% of the atom?

7. If the Nucleus is a grape on the 50 yard line in Commonwealth Stadium, then the electrons are tiny gnats flying in the cheap seats

8. So, given all of this information: What really makes up you and me ?

9. Virtually NOTHING !!! Virtually NOTHING !!!

10. Don’t Believe Me?

11. The Matrix has you.

12. Now for a Magic Trick I am going to make you levitate in your seats.

13. Isn’t that Cool

14. So without forces, like the electromagnetic force between charges, we would pass through walls (if they could exist), through mountains, even through the Earth. So what are these forces? In the Standard Model, forces arise from the exchange of particles. Some of these particles are real and some are virtual. You aren't really only empty space

15. The electromagnetic force arises from an exchange of particles by charged particles. The particles that get exchanged are called photons. The electromagnetic force arises from an exchange of particles by charged particles. The particles that get exchanged are called photons. Photons are what we usually refer to as “light”. The correct name is electromagnetic radiation.

16. Now for Something a Little Different Look in my hand. When do you see? Look in my hand. When do you see? I mean, WHEN do you REALLY see?

17. Speed of Light The Speed of light is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, fast. The Speed of light is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, fast. It’s 186,000 miles per second. That’s 3 x 10 8 meters per second If you are 3 meters from me you are seeing me as I looked 0.00000001 seconds ago. That's 1 x 10 -8 seconds

18. The Moon – 1.5 light seconds away

19. The Sun – 8 light minutes away

20. Here is Mars

21. Here is the Spirit Rover on Mars

22. Here is a NASA engineer practicing to run the Spirit Rover on Mars

23. Alpha Centauri – 4.5 light years away

24. A light year A light year is a distance. It is the distance that light travels in one year. A light year is a distance. It is the distance that light travels in one year. So you know the speed of light: So you know the speed of light: 3 x 10 8 meters/second 3 x 10 8 meters/second The number of seconds in a year is The number of seconds in a year is 3.14 x 10 7 seconds 3.14 x 10 7 seconds Answer: 9.4 x 10 15 meters or 9.4 x 10 12 km or 5.9 x 10 12 miles or 6.3 x 10 4 A.U.

25. Let's scale the big stuff now.

26. Our Solar System to scale

27. Voyager space craft are about 12 billion km away or about 11 light hours away.

31. NGC 346 as it looked 210,000 years ago

32. M 31 as it looked 2.2 million years ago

33. NGC 4676 – 300 million years ago

47. Remember that on this scale the distance from the Sun to Alpha Centauri is the head of a pin. About 1 millimeter. Remember that on this scale the distance from the Sun to Alpha Centauri is the head of a pin. About 1 millimeter. The Earth by comparison would be the size of a single atom! The Earth by comparison would be the size of a single atom!

48. If you aren't feeling small and insignificant yet then consider that there is 10 times more mass in this photo than what we can see.

49. Dark Matter It makes up 23% if all the mass-energy of the Universe. The stuff we are made of “normal matter” or baryons only contributes 4% It makes up 23% if all the mass-energy of the Universe. The stuff we are made of “normal matter” or baryons only contributes 4% Best current candidates are WIMPS Best current candidates are WIMPS Where is the rest of the mass-energy? Where is the rest of the mass-energy?