Cosmology Topic

Models of the Universe

Concept 1 demo

Four flashing LEDs hanging from clips on an orange braided bungee cord at even intervals, positioned above a meter stick on a green lecture bench

Expanding Universe

Flashing LEDs on a stretching bungee cord model cosmic expansion. Students observe that all inter-LED distances increase proportionally when the cord is stretched, directly demonstrating Hubble's Law and showing that …

Gravitational Effects

Concept 2 demos

Three crocheted fabric models in variegated blue and green yarn: a flat disk (zero curvature), a ruffled hyperbolic surface (negative curvature), and a dome-shaped spherical cap (positive curvature)

Curved Space Models

Three crocheted cloth models in CMB-inspired colors represent universes with positive, negative, and zero spatial curvature. Students handle the models to build intuition for non-Euclidean geometry and connect curvature to …

Heavy metal disk with holographic rainbow surface sitting flat on a concave mirrored base with black rim

Euler's Disk: The Sound of Colliding Neutron Stars

A spinning Euler's disk produces a rising-pitch "chirp" as friction dissipates its energy — strikingly similar to the gravitational wave signal from merging neutron stars. Students hear how energy loss …