Universality of Physical Laws

Part of Hall of the Universe.

Universality of Physical Laws AMNH/D. Finnin

All parts of the universe are subject to the same simple laws of nature that we find here on Earth.

Planets, stars, and galaxies move according to the same law of gravity that governs the flight of a baseball.

Light from distant galaxies reveals the same atomic and nuclear physics that we observe in our laboratories.

Interstellar clouds contain the same elements as the Sun, Moon, and Earth.

Newton
Isaac Newton described gravity as a force of attraction among objects in the universe. The gravitational attraction between any two objects is proportional to their masses, but it falls off strongly as the distance between them increases.
Einstein
Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity reinterprets gravity as the curving of space by matter. Matter tells space how to curve. Curved space tells matter how to move. General relativity extends our understanding of gravity to accommodate extreme situations, such as black holes or the entire universe.
dark matter in galaxies

In This Section

Exhibit Gravitational Lenses General relativity describes how space is curved by mass.