In Newton’s Principia, he defines gravity as follows: every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a force that is directly proportional to the product of the masses of the particles and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Or, if the following is easier to understand see my first image.
If you don’t understand what this means, that is ok. Just understand that this is what we perceive to be the LAW of gravity that was developed by Newton after he observed an apple falling to the ground from a tree and wondering why it wouldn’t do the same on the moon.
HOWEVER, does this law apply to every known body of mass in the universe? The answer is unequivocally no. This law certainly is not evident in the interactions of our solar system (the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, etc) with other celestial bodies WITHIN our own Milky Way galaxy (our solar system and the other 200 billion stars that create the barred spiral you see in my second picture):
The theory also does not apply to the interactions of different galaxies. Basically, it does not apply for large celestial bodies. But why?
The common answer to this curiosity is a popular topic called “Dark Matter.” Dark matter supposedly cannot be seen, and we have no idea what it is, but it is considered the “missing mass” of the universe because it is “detected” by its gravitational effects on visible matter in our universe (such as the interactions of two stars).
My question is why do people turn to these insane theories in order to explain flaws in commonly accepted laws. If we try to patch up flawed theories with unobservable theories that are not testable and would rather rely on wacky hypothesis, we will stop the flow of real science.
If anyone can give me some rational evidence of dark matter, I would much appreciate it.
Tags: dark matter, law of gravity, newton, science
