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Asked by ihatecheese to Claire, Kate, Matt, Rob, Sam on 24 Jun 2013.
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Kate Husband answered on 24 Jun 2013:
The universe is 68% dark energy (energy that we don’t know what it is), 26% dark matter (that’s stuff we can’t see like a planet that doesn’t shine or something more exotic that we don’t understand) and 5% atoms (that’s the bit we understand!). Of the 5% that is made of atoms the majority is hydrogen, with some helium and much smaller amounts of every other element.
So probably the best answer to your question is we don’t really know!
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Sam Geen answered on 24 Jun 2013:
When people say the universe is 68% dark energy, they mean that’s the amount of energy in the universe that’s dark energy. In terms of the stuff in the universe, it’s mostly dark matter (which, in reality, we just know is a source of gravity – we don’t know what it is). And like Kate says, most of the things we can actually see and touch are hydrogen and helium. As for what the universe is, or what space-time itself is made of, we’re still trying to figure that out!
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Claire Lee answered on 25 Jun 2013:
The things that make up the 4% are 16 basic particles. 4 of them are the particles that carry force – we call those bosons. Of the other 12, 3 of them make up all of our everyday “stuff”. Those are two quarks (called “up” and “down”), and the electron.
The up and down quarks make up protons and neutrons, and when you combine them with the electrons you get atoms. And everything – you, me, your dog, cheese, the earth, the stars and galaxies are all made of atoms.
We are the 4%!! 😉
Then there’s one other particle we know of, called the Higgs boson, which gives mass to all the other particles.
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