The Universe

Section 3

Key Ideas
What makes up the universe?
How did the universe begin?
How do scientists make predictions about the future of the
universe?

The Universe

Section 3

What Is the Universe?

What makes up the universe?
The universe consists of all space, matter, and energy
that existsnow, in the past, or in the future.

The Universe

Section 3

What Is the Universe? continued

Everything is part of the universe.
We see the universe now as it was in the past.
It takes time for light to travel in space.
The farther away an object is, the older the light that
we receive from that object.
Most of the universe is empty space.
Space is a vacuum with no air and no air pressure.

The Universe

Section 3

What Happened at the Beginning?

Observations of spectral lines from other galaxies
indicated that they were moving away from us.
Red shift is an apparent shift toward longer
wavelengths of light caused when a luminous object
moves away from the observer.
This red shift can be explained by the Doppler effect.
Therefore, many conclude the universe is expanding.
Doppler effect: an observed change in the frequency of a
wave when the source or observer is moving

The Universe

Section 3

Visual Concept: Red Shift

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The Universe

Section 3

What Happened at the Beginning? continued

Expansion implies that the universe was once smaller.
Long ago, the entire universe might have been
contained in an extremely small space.
All of the matter in the universe appears to expand
rapidly outward, like a gigantic explosion.

The Universe

Section 3

Visual Concept: Universal Expansion

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The Universe

Section 3

What Happened at the Beginning? continued

Cosmic background radiation supports the big bang
theory.
Cosmic background radiation is a steady but very dim
signal from all over the sky in the form of radiation at
microwave wavelengths.
Many scientists believe that the microwaves are dim
remnants of the radiation produced during the big
bang.

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Section 3

Predicting the Future of the Universe,

continued

The future of the universe is uncertain.

The universe is expanding, but the combined gravity of all
the mass in the universe is also pulling the universe inward.
The competition between these forces leaves three
possibilities:
1. The universe will keep expanding forever.
2. The expansion of the universe will gradually slow
down, and the universe will approach a limit in size.
3. The universe will stop expanding and start to fall
back in on itself.

The Universe

Section 3

Predicting the Future of the Universe,

continued
The future of the universe depends on mass.
If there is not enough mass, the gravitational pull will
be too small to stop the expansion.
If the universe keeps expanding, it may expand at a
steady rate or speed up and expand faster.
If there is just the right amount of mass, the
expansion will continually slow down, but will never
stop completely.
If there is too much mass, gravity will eventually
overcome expansion and the universe will contract.

The Universe

Future of the Universe

Section 3

The Universe

Section 3

Predicting the Future of the Universe,

continued
There is debate about dark matter.
There is more matter in the universe than what is
visible.
Scientists call this dark matter.
Dark matter may be planets, black holes, or brown
dwarfs (starlike objects that lack enough mass to
begin fusion).

The Universe

Section 3

Visual Concept: Structure of the Universe

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