I'm doing a project on Dark Matter for my physics class, but all the sources that I have found on it assume that the reader has a certain amount of background knowlege which I seem to be lacking. Can anyone explain it to me in simple, 9th grade language? I'd really appreciate the help. :)
2007-01-27 11:22:23 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Okay, maybe I should narrow my question a bit. I want to know the details about how Dark Matter was discovered. Something about rotational curve of a spiral galaxy, the viral theorem, and the differences in the calculated motions of the galaxy versus the actual motions.
2007-01-27 11:33:28 · update #1
It hasnt been discovered, but they are thinking they will find it in the next 5 or 10 years, IF the dark matter theories are right. Heres what happened. When we observed galaxies and their rotations, the outer arms rotate in such a fasion that doesnt hold up with Newtons Laws of Gravitation. To explain the faster-than-they-should-have rotation, it was postulated that something was exerting other force on the outsides of the galaxies, but we couldnt see it. Since we couldnt see it but it had to exist since it had mass and gravitational forces, it was called Dark Matter. Actually i should have included this when i first posted but its the link to the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) taking place half a mile underground in Minnesota. Bascially they have these big disks of Germanium, held right above absolute zero, and they just wait for the dark matter to pass through...since if it exists if should be all around us in the form of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPS)...anyway check out the link...
2007-01-27 11:38:27 · answer #1 · answered by Beach_Bum 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Astrophysicists found some thing unusual regarding the rotation of galaxies. In our image voltaic gadget, the greater desirable a planet is from the sunlight, the longer it takes to end one revolution. it extremely is consistent with Newton's rules. In galaxies, that doesn't artwork. the excellent galaxy rotates like a bicycle tire. that's, the celebs on the fringe of the galaxy make one revolution interior the comparable time by way of fact the celebs close to to the middle. to verify this, physicists think of there could be another count that makes up nearly all of the galaxy so as that galactic rotation conforms with Newton's rules. till very at present, there replaced into no actual evidence of those issues, and because no one might desire to work out it, they known because it "dark count". i wish that helps.
2016-12-16 15:05:13 · answer #2 · answered by donenfeld 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's called dark matter because it is there but cannot be seen. It is the thing in space, just darkness. But it is still matter.
2007-01-27 11:27:49 · answer #3 · answered by Terry The Terrible 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋