Big Bang & Dark Matter TEDed

Big Bang & Dark Matter: TEDed

Instructions

• Watch the TEDed video by copy and pasting the link in a new window

• Answer the multiple choice questions that follow the video

• You will be watching TWO videos today

The beginning of the universe, for beginners

https://youtu.be/DmUiCweDic4

Multiple Choice

How did we first work out that the universe was expanding?

• Galaxies were seen moving further and further apart

• Galaxies were seen to be spinning in an unexpected way

• Particle physics experiments showed that atoms were getting larger as the universe got older

Multiple Choice

How do particle accelerators allow us to effectively look back in time?

• If you accelerate particles to a great enough speed, they travel backwards in time

• The high energy collisions of particles recreate the hot, dense conditions we think existed at the beginning of the universe

• Particle accelerators make wormholes that we can travel through to make measurements of the early universe

Multiple Choice

Which of these particles is the smallest?

• atom

• neutron

• proton

• quark

Multiple Choice

How long after the Big Bang was it before protons and neutrons could form from quarks?

• microseconds

• a few seconds

• hundreds of seconds

Multiple Choice

How do we know that all of the fundamental forces of nature will simplify into one force at a very high energy?

• All of the experimental evidence we have obtained so far suggests that some of the different forces we know about are actually the same force if you go to high enough energies, and we expect this trend to continue

• The physics of the universe must be described by a simple, elegant mathematical equation – and one force is simpler than four forces

• We don’t know this at all – if we want to test this hypothesis, we’ll have to build bigger particle accelerators to further our understanding of the universe

Open Ended

What do cosmologists do? What do particle physicists do? How can they both tell us about the origins of the universe?

Shedding light on dark matter

https://youtu.be/bZW_B9CC-gI

Multiple Choice

What percent of the universe is made up of dark matter?

• Unknown. Physicists call it “dark matter” because they’re in the dark about the answer

• 4%

• 26%

• Depends on which galaxy your in

• Depends on whether you believe in alien life forms

Open Ended

What are the effects of dark matter and dark energy in the expanding universe—in what way(s) do they compete?

Multiple Choice

What would we expect to happen to the orbital speed of stars at the edges of a galaxy?

• Orbital speed should decrease as distance from the center of the galaxy increase

• Orbital speed should increase as distance from the center of the galaxy increases

• Trick question! Stars do not orbit, only planets do

• Orbital speed varies according to the age of the star, so it’s hard to say

Open Ended

Burchat describes dark matter as “non-interacting” matter. What does this mean, and why is it challenging for physicists? How are they gathering evidence for dark matter, given its non-interactive nature?

Multiple Choice

What's an Einstein Ring?

• An elite group of physicists selected by Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell

• A tool that Einstein developed to do experiments with the Doppler effect

• Galaxies that cluster in circular fashion because of dark energy

• The bending of light rays due to the gravitational effects of matter

• Both C and D

Open Ended

What habits of mind do you think would be most helpful to a particle physicist? Are these different in any way than the habits of mind that other scientists might draw upon? Would particle physics be a good fit for you, or not?

Multiple Choice

Why is the distance between galaxies increasing?

• Black holes are pulling them away from each other

• A great disturbance in the Force

• Space itself is expanding

• It’s the effect of dark energy

• Both C and D

Multiple Choice

What did scientists find out when they measured the rate of expansion of the universe?

• It's increasing

• It's decreasing

• It's constant

• It varies

• Both C and D

Open Ended

In her talk, Burchat mentions the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland. The LHC and other exploratory science projects (Mars rovers, for example) often get criticized and targeted for budget cuts when the economy is bad. How do you think the supporters and detractors of exploratory science programs would defend their positions?

Congratulations

You have completed todays assignment!