How Will the Universe End? 4 Theories Young Learners Will Learn at a STEM Camp

STEM Camp

If you have naturally curious kids, one of the questions they may ask you is how the universe may end. Although this may sound like a morbid query for children to ask, it is something that they may think about and want to know more about, especially if they’re into science fiction.  

Although you can do your best to answer this question, you can help your little ones get a clearer picture of the different possibilities by enrolling them in STEM camps for kids.

The right science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning program for children encourages young learners to ask questions about topics covered by these subject areas.

A good STEM camp has qualified and knowledgeable tutors who can answer the most difficult questions, including how the universe might end.

Theories About How the Universe May End

When your children ask about how the universe might end, the STEM camp tutor will likely introduce four theories:

1. The Big Rip

This theory states that dark energy will cause a relentless acceleration that will get stronger over time and eventually overwhelm the gravitational, electromagnetic, nuclear forces, and other energy fields.

This, in turn, will cause the destruction of galaxies and the unraveling of the solar system. Eventually, all the planets would burst because of the rapid expansion of space, which would rip apart all atoms.

Ultimately, the universe would end in an explosion.

The Big Rip is based on Robert Caldwell’s proposed theory of the expansion of the universe, which states that the rate of acceleration of dark energy keeps increasing over time.

Most scientists say that if the Big Rip is an eventuality, it will take another 22 billion years for it to happen.

2. The Big Freeze

Also known as the Heat Death or Big Chill, this scenario states the universe is constantly expanding at an ever-increasing speed. As it continues doing so, it will eventually expand until it becomes nothing.

As the universe expands, the galaxies, stars, and planets are pulled farther and farther apart from one another as heat is dispersed throughout space.

Ultimately, the galaxies, stars, and planets would be pulled so far apart that the stars would lose access to the materials they need to form more heavenly bodies. In the end, the lights will go out for good.

As a result, the universe will get extremely cold and the temperature will reach absolute zero. When this happens, all movement will stop and nothing will exist anywhere since there is literally no energy.

The universe would be in a state of entropy, filled only with the remnants of dead stars.

This theory is based on the first law of thermodynamics, which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed into various forms. Because of this, heat and energy are finite and will disappear when the universe expands into nothing.

The second law of thermodynamics also applies to the Big Freeze theory, since it states that the sum of the entropies of the intermingling thermodynamic systems never declines. This means that heat won’t pass naturally from a colder body to a warmer one.

As a result, the universe will continue to be a vast cold place, with no possibility of getting energy or heat to support life.

3. The Big Crunch

This theory is considered a consequence of the Big Bang. It states that the universe’s expansion won’t continue forever and will stop accelerating and ultimately slow down.

In the future, possibly after trillions of years, the universe could start collapsing if its average density stops the expansion.

All existing matter and particles will eventually be pulled together in an extremely dense state, something similar to a black hole.

Another possible reason for this collapse is dark energy becoming so weak that gravity might win the tug of war, pulling the universe back onto itself.

This would result in stars, planets, and galaxies clumping closely as the universe starts shrinking and becoming compressed at an alarmingly fast rate.

This particular model suggests that the rate of contraction would be slow at first. However, the pace would gradually pick up, leading to the collapse of the universe.  

4. The Big Slurp

The Big Slurp is the most recent theory to be released regarding the end of the universe. It is based on the mechanisms surrounding the Higgs boson.

The Higgs boson is a carrier particle, or boson, of the Higgs field, a field that permeates space and gives all elementary subatomic particles mass.

According to this theory, if the Higgs boson has a certain weight and mass, it suggests that the vacuum of our universe may be inherently unstable.

This means that the universe could be existing in an unending “metastable” state.  

The theory further explains that the universe might go through a catastrophic event when a bubble with lower energy from an alternate universe appears.

This could cause all the protons in all matter in the universe to decay and the complete destruction of the universe.

These theories and scenarios are complex and all seem terrifying and bleak, so discussing them with your children can pose additional challenges.

Good thing you can always let the tutors at a STEM winter camp for kids in Dubai provide the explanations and answer your young learners’ other questions regarding the likely end of the universe.