The standard model of particle physics describes current collider physics data extremely well, but we know it has some limitations. Many theories beyond the standard model have been developed to solve at least some of these limitations and most introduce new particles at the TeV scale, a scale accessibly at the Large Hadron Collider. This talk focuses on describing one way to search for these new particles, by using the heaviest known fundamental particle, the top quark. Considerable emphasis will be placed on how top quarks are identified in the ATLAS detector, requiring a thorough understanding of almost all of the components of the detector. Recent results from the ATLAS experiment involving top quarks will be presented. Both measurements of its standard model properties and searches for new physics involving top quarks will be discussed. Some remarks about the prospects for the 2012 data and future speculations will conclude this presentation.