Is there any evidence for dark matter?

Question

I have always heard about dark matter, but I do not know what it means, what its uses are, and does it really exist?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

There’s no direct evidence for dark matter.

What we currently know about the matter constituting the universe (stars, nebulae, planets, etc. ) accounts only for about 15% of what should be required to explain the phenomena we observe (like [formation and evolution of galaxies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_formation_and_evolution), [gravitational lensing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_lensing), the [observable universe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observable_universe)’s current structure, the motion of galaxies within [galaxy clusters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_cluster), etc.). The remaining 85% are called “dark matter” (because we can’t observe it) until a better explanation is found.