In The

Beginning (Big
Bang Theory
and Formation
of the Light
Elements)
 The learners should be able to
 1. Briefly discuss the cosmology of the Big
Bang model
 2. Provide an overview of the proof for the
Big Bang model
 3. Write reactions involving the
nucleosynthesis of the first elements
General outline of the lessons
for the quarter:

• Study where all the stuff in the universe

came from.
• See how our understanding of all stuff has
changed and continues to change.
• Try to find answers as to why stuff is a
certain way and why it changes in certain
ways.
• Develop an appreciation of why stuff is
important in our daily lives.
 The “study of stuff” is a simplification of
chemistry to mean the study of matter, its
make-up, its properties, and the changes
it undergoes.
Definition
- Cosmology
• Big Bang theory/Big Bang model
• Singularity
• Inflation
• Annihilation
• Recombination
• Redshift
• Relative abundance
• Cosmic microwave background
 cosmology is the study of how the
universe began, how it continues to exist,
and how it will end.
 singularity, a point with all of space, time,
matter and energy. This means that there
was no where, when or what. There is no
space around the singularity.
Inflation
Space itself expanded faster than the
speed of light.
Annihilation
 pairs of matter and antimatter (quarks
and antiquarks) were formed from
energy,
Nucleosynthesis or Nuclear fusion

 Protonsand neutrons came together to

form different types of nuclei
Recombination

 electrons
started to bind to ionized
protons and nuclei forming neutral atoms
.
Redshift
 (the light looks “stretched”). This suggests
that other galaxies are moving farther
away from ours. It was later determined
that they are not moving away. Instead,
space itself is expanding in all directions
causing all the galaxies to be relatively
farther apart. From this “redshift” we learn
how fast the universe is expanding.
Redshift is the first piece of evidence for
the Big Bang model.
Cosmic microwave
background, or the energy
(thermal radiation) that
 Evidence for the Big Bang model.it was
left as a result of recombination. Atoms
became neutral due to the binding of
nuclei and electrons. The remaining
radiation then began to scatter. This is
seen by scientists as a faint microwave
glow not emitted by any object in space.
Relative abundance of light
elements
 Through measurements, we find that
around 24% of the universe’s ordinary
matter is currently comprised of helium,
about 74% hydrogen, and 2% of other
elements. These figures only make sense if
nucleosynthesis in the Big Bang model
actually occurred since no chemical
process significantly changes these
percentages.
 Big Bang theory or Big Bang model-
evidence that the universe once began
to expand and continues to expand until
today.
 . This theory was eventually called the Big
Bang theory or Big Bang model.
Astronomers George Lemaître and Edwin
Hubble were some of its first proponents.
Stages of the Big Bang model
 1. The universe may have begun as an
infinitely hot and dense initial singularity, a
point with all of space, time, matter and
energy. This means that there was no
where, when or what. There is no space
around the singularity – just nothingness.
 2. All of it then began to rapidly expand
in a process known as inflation. Space
itself expanded faster than the speed of
light. In this still hot and dense mass of the
universe, pairs of matter and antimatter
(quarks and antiquarks) were formed from
energy, but these pairs cancelled each
other back into energy (annihilation).
 3. The universe cooled down as it
expanded. An excess of matter
(electrons, protons, neutrons and other
particles) somehow came to be in a
highly energetic “plasma soup.” Photons
(light particles) were being scattered
everywhere in this “soup”. Protons and
neutrons came together to form different
types of nuclei by nucleosynthesis or
nuclear fusion
 4. Much later on, electrons started to
bind to ionized protons and nuclei forming
neutral atoms in a process called
recombination. The bound particles no
longer scattered photons so light and
energy moved freely across space. The
period was hence known as the “dark
ages”.
 5. Gravity caused these atoms to collapse
onto one another to form stars and
galaxies and eventually, other matter. This
still happens until today. Space also
continues to expand at an accelerating
rate, thus increasing the distance
between the matters inside it.
 PUZZLE MAKING