My EPQ title on DARK MATTER!

Hi people. i need everyones help. Im in year 12 doing epq, i have chosen a subject regarding dark matter and/OR dark energy. My supervisor advises me that i should come up with a title that is enough for 5000 words, because some titles NEED more than 5000 words, (e.g. having a title named as 'Dark Matter') is worth more than 5000 words to put every information out there. Can any of you give me any ORIGINAL and EFFECTIVE title ideas, so i know what to focus on? and should i focus on dark matter or dark energy? (my supervisor says focus on dark matter, having both is too much words) please help thank you, happy EASTER! and happy revision guys :biggrin:

Reply 1

cyfer

13

My advice is don't focus on anything complicated to do with physics. If you have someone that has studied physics read your paper you will look like an idiot as no doubt you will be forced to use simplified and incorrect analogies or even explanations to justify your argument/research.

I guess you can do it, but you will need to focus on something ridiculously specific, I recommend a physicist's research on the subject of dark matter several years ago, so perhaps the matter will not be too complicated due to the time period it was theoreticised.

EDIT: If you've already made the decision and it is final, then I pity you.

Reply 2

Amirindo

OP

ive got to do a presentation, so i cant have too complicated otherwise the audience will get confused. This isnt supposed to be genius scientific work because its a project on anything i want so i will most likely get more marks on my planning, my presentation skills, my good primary and secondary research regarding my title and focus, thats it, they only expect me t o have done lots of primary research all into 1 presentation and dissertation talking about my focus, (e.g what are the impacts? what are the ethical concerns?) uni's want to seee presentation skills, research skills, and to see my interests, not if my work HAS to be like einstein work. correct me if im wrong

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 3

cyfer

13

Original post by Amirindo

ive got to do a presentation, so i cant have too complicated otherwise the audience will get confused. This isnt supposed to be genius scientific work because its a project on anything i want so i will most likely get more marks on my planning, my presentation skills, my good primary and secondary research regarding my title and focus, thats it, they only expect me t o have done lots of primary research all into 1 presentation and dissertation talking about my focus, (e.g what are the impacts? what are the ethical concerns?) uni's want to seee presentation skills, research skills, and to see my interests, not if my work HAS to be like einstein work. correct me if im wrong

Yes but your EPQ needs to be obscure or you will be completely ripped apart by any adult reviewing your work that has studied physics and all your work will be beyond useless.

Reply 4

Amirindo

OP

so do you mean its got to be very unique that no-one has read it before? what type of title ideas or what can i focus on mostly so it has the potential to be decent. Because i was thinking of some but really cant decide.. these are possibilities:
What is the impact of dark matter?
What is the nature of Dark matter?
Can dark matter help describe the characterstics of our galaxies?
etc. etc. but please can you advise me because i am researching at the moment about dark matter but dont know what to do about it.

Reply 5

Amirindo

OP

my teacher says dark matter or dark energy is really good topic to talk about because not many people know it (except physics geniuses) my supervisor is my physics teacher

Reply 6

youbonkers

9

I completely disagree with cyfer, I did an epq on fundamental particles this year; yes I skimmed over a lot of topics and yes I used really simple analogies, but bloody hell, I'm 17! They weren't expecting me to do a phd level project! In fact I think explaining complicated things in a simple way is one of the most useful things you can learn because there's no point being good at physics if you can't convey your ideas to people :tongue:

Amirindo, I like 'What is the nature of dark matter?' because there are a lot of conflicting ideas about that and there are quite a few recent articles which I used in my epq on that topic. Sounds great, epq is so fun, especially a particle physics based one! Mine was about the possibility of discovering new fundamental particles and I had loads to write about :smile:

(saying this, I haven't got a grade back for it yet :tongue:

not that it really matters because none of my uni offers were based on it)

Reply 7

Amirindo

OP

thanks. Its the quality of my project counts.. as in:
My planning - in epq this section is the most important as we get most marks from our planning.
My finished project of course..
And then my primary/secondary research...
All i need now is to focus on an area... if i dont, it will be too late and im screwed! HELP, does anyone know alot about dark matter/dark energy, anything to focus on that can fill 5000 words and not more.

Reply 8

youbonkers

9

Original post by Amirindo

thanks. Its the quality of my project counts.. as in:
My planning - in epq this section is the most important as we get most marks from our planning.
My finished project of course..
And then my primary/secondary research...
All i need now is to focus on an area... if i dont, it will be too late and im screwed! HELP, does anyone know alot about dark matter/dark energy, anything to focus on that can fill 5000 words and not more.

Just sayin... it is all about doing your own research.

http://www.google.co.uk/
^ there ya go

Reply 9

bc1032

Not exactly dark matter but a really interesting idea which is equally exciting is the idea of conservation of information and entropy (and especially how information can be conserved when matter reaches the event horizon of a black hole). If this interests you, take a look at "The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics" by Leonard Susskind.

However, if you really wanted to stick to dark matter, maybe do an extended project based around the 2011 Nobel Prize: “for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae.”. That will also most definitely set you in good stead for your 2nd year (or 1st year) undergrad cosmology course! Have a look at "An Introduction to Modern Cosmology" by A. Liddle, and just plough on from there!

I hope this has helped - if you choose one of these and need any extra information or help, then just send me a private message. I'm not the world's biggest expert but do find both ideas very interesting and have done essays on both for my uni course so far.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 10

Amirindo

OP

Thank you very much. i will consider researching the topics you have provided me, they most definitely will help. I did NEW research as in read new articles from the past week and scientists have discovered that galactic collisions can possibly reveal clues about dark matter, it may help them determine the characteristics of dark matter particles (such as wimps) wimps= 'Weakly Interacting Massive Particles'' (LOL). Other questions or titles i could consider is 'Is it possible for ''String Theory'' to explain dark matter eventually? = because most of our universe is dark, and (we only make up 0.03%, dark matter makes 23%, dark energy makes 73%, and 4% is hydrogen and helium from the stars, then most of our niverse maybe nothing but high octaves of a vibrating string. (sounds confusing i know)
Another possible title could be ''Why is most of out Universe is missing''? this is interesting, as people are referring to dark matter being the missing mass or something.
Also ''Could dark matter affect human, animal bodies/organs?
Of course some of these are questions, which could make my epq project harder wouldnt it? or am i being hard on myself? because focusing on a proved or comfirmed area of dark matter, like the one you told me about the 2011 nobel prize, could be easier. This is my problem. what type of title shall it be. In the end im doing a dissertation. Sorry for the long message, thanks for ur previous help.

Reply 11

hafsa.17

2

Original post by Amirindo

Hi people. i need everyones help. Im in year 12 doing epq, i have chosen a subject regarding dark matter and/OR dark energy. My supervisor advises me that i should come up with a title that is enough for 5000 words, because some titles NEED more than 5000 words, (e.g. having a title named as 'Dark Matter') is worth more than 5000 words to put every information out there. Can any of you give me any ORIGINAL and EFFECTIVE title ideas, so i know what to focus on? and should i focus on dark matter or dark energy? (my supervisor says focus on dark matter, having both is too much words) please help thank you, happy EASTER! and happy revision guys :biggrin:

Hi, I know it’s been a long time. I am currently starting year 13 and I have chosen to do my epq on dark matter too. I was wondering if I could have yours to help with mine if that’s okay.

My EPQ title on DARK MATTER!

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