The Big Bang!
“To make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe” Carl Sagan 1980
Why Must We Create The Universe? The original atoms and elements were created seconds after the Big Bang
What Was The Big Bang? The Big Bang Theory States that the universe began as a point and has been expanding ever since – All of the matter and energy in the universe was contained in this point
Big Bang Timeline
What was it like during the Big Bang? Matter as we know it did not exist due to the extremely hot temperatures and incredible density Temperature was K (This is really hot) You must realize the big bang was not an explosion but a rapid expansion
4 Forces of Nature At the time of the Big Bang, these forces could not be distinguished!!!!! – second gravity split from the other 3 forces – second the strong force separates from the electromagnetic and weak force – the electromagnetic and weak forces separate
What Happened Next? 1 second after the Big Bang the temperature dropped to K or 100 Billion K – At this temperature protons, neutrons and electrons form As seconds go by the temperature continues to drop – Atoms cannot form due to the subatomic particles having too much energy
At about 100 seconds Temperature drops to 10 9 K or 1 Billion K – At this temperature protons and neutrons form the first atomic nuclei Deuterium is formed. – Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen with an extra neutron – Important to remember that not all atoms were formed at this point – Sometimes when deuterium nuclei collided with each other at great speeds helium nuclei formed
As the expansion continues Temperatures continue to fall More nuclei are formed After a couple of minutes the universe has three elements – Hydrogen (95%) – Helium (5%) – Lithium (Trace Amounts)