Sunday, 16 June 2013

The Matter Myth: Chapter 6 Analysis

            The sixth chapter of The Matter Myth is titled “…And the Last”. This chapter thoroughly examines the concept of the Universe collapsing into itself due to the universal force of gravity. The build-up of uneven matter distribution since the creation of the Universe is also discussed. Lastly, ripples of spacetime are described.
            Gravity is a force that acts on all objects. Certainly, the Universe as a whole is not an exception to this. The Universe has avoided collapsing into itself so far because of its initial expansion rate. However, it has been proven that the Universe is expanding slower over time. This questions whether or not the expansion will eventually halt and then become a contraction. Scientists believe that gravity will one day cause the end of the Universe. This end depicts the Universe ending like a reversed version of the big bang. Instead of everything coming out of a single point, it will all become a singularity.
(above) This is a depiction of the big crunch theory. The Universe is depicted to follow a cycle of expansion and contraction.
            At the beginning of the Universe, matter may have been distributed very smoothly. Regardless, small irregularities would have amplified over billions of years due to the nature of gravity. When any area has more matter, its gravitation is increased. This allows this concentrated area of matter to continually attract more matter. Therefore, over time, dense areas of matter would cause an uneven distribution of matter in the Universe.
            Massive amounts of matter are described to be capable of warping spacetime around it. For example, the Sun is capable of this act. When the Sun moves, the spacetime warp around it also moves. When two massive objects collide, their spacetime warps disrupt each other and release gravitational wave ripples into their surroundings.
Bibliography
Davies, Paul, and John Gribbin. The Matter Myth. New York: Orion Productions, 1992. Print
Images:

No comments:

Post a Comment