BIG BANG

THEORY
Cosmological model of the Big Bang Theory
COSMOLOG
Y
is the branch of astronomy that
deals with the study of of the
structure and evolution of the
universe.
The Big Bang wasn’t an explosion, visualize it like this
 DOESN’T
PLAY DICE
WITH THE
UNIVERSE”
 ATOMS CONSIST OF ELEMENTS

ARE MADE OF ARE KNOWN TO HAVE

BEEN FORMED DURING

ELECTRONS
NUCLEUS ORBIT THE
• Negatively STELLAR STELLAR
BIG BANG
FORMATION AND EXPLOSION
charged
EVOLUTION
HAS
FORMED FORMED FORMED

PROTONS
NEUTRONS Elements
• Positively H, He, Li Be to Fe
• Electrically heavier
charged
neutral than Fe
• Define
atomic
number

define

Atomic mass
 NUCLEAR
REACTIONS
AND
ORIGIN OF
ELEMENTS
 NUCLEAR REACTIONS
These are processes in which a
nucleus either combines with
another nucleus (through nuclear
fusion) or splits into smaller nuclei
(through nuclear fission. These
processes involve the emission of
energetic particles of an atom, a
phenomenon known as
radioactivity. The radioactive
particles may be elements,
electrons, protons, and neutrons,
 The following are the
most common types of
nuclear reaction:
• Alpha decay: loss of an alpha particle ( α )
4
2

alpha decay of polonium – 210

• Beta decay: loss of a beta particle (0β-1)
beta decay of carbon -14
• Gamma radiation: emission of a gamma ray (0γ0)
gamma radiation in alpha decay of uranium – 238
• Positron emission: conversion of a proton in a nucleus into a neutron,
along with the release of a positron (0e+1)
positron emission of oxygen -15
• Electron capture: drawing of an electron (0e-1) into an atom’s nucleus
electron capture of mercury -201
• Bombardment of alpha particle: addition of alpha particle
bombardment of beryllium with an alpha particle
• Proton (1p1) and neutron (1n0)
that the sum of the atomic
masses of the particles in
the left-hand side of the
equation is equal to that in
the right-hand side. The
same is true for the atomic
numbers. If a particle is
missing in an equation, one
can easily identify it by
arithmetically finding the
atomic mass and atomic
number of the particle that
will make the sum in the
EXAMPLE
1. 226
Ra88 Rn86 + ______
222

2. 159
Eu63 ______ + e-1
0
 TIME’S
15
MINUTES
UP
TIMER
Cosmic Origin of
Elements
 The Big
Bang
• The most widely accepted explanation to the origin
of the universe is the big bang theory.
• In the early 1900s, Edwin Hubble offered an
explanation that the universe is expanding. HE
OBSERVED THAT MANY STARS AND GALAXIES
SHINE WITH LIGHT SHIFTED TOWARD THE RED
END OF THE VISIBLE SPECTRUM. This
phenomenon is called REDSHIFT.

• Redshift occurs because the light waves of cosmic

bodies are stretched into low-frequency red waves
as they move away from an observer on Earth.
 The Big
Bang
• Hubble’s law suggests that THE SIZE OF
THE REDSHIFT IS PROPORTIONAL TO
THE DISTANCE AND SPEED OF A STAR
THAT IS MOVING AWAY FROM EARTH.

• With Hubble’s data, cosmologists have

traced the expansion of the universe back
to a time when it was an entity smaller
than an atom.
 The Big
Bang
• The big bang theory postulates that
approximately 14 billion years ago, a hot, dense
mass about one centimetre in diameter
experienced a huge explosion, spreading its
products as a fast moving cloud of gas.

• Within the first second after the explosion,

subatomic particles such as protons, neutrons,
and electrons were formed. As the expanding
universe cooled, the protons and neutrons started
to fuse to form heavier nuclei of deuterium and
some into helium.
• Subsequent nuclear fusion reactions,
in which two atomic nuclei join to
form a new type of nuclei, resulted in
the production of other light elements
and their isotopes.
• Astronomers believe that a few
minutes after the big bang, the
universe was composed of
approximately 75% hydrogen, 25%
helium, and trace amounts of lithium.
• The processes through which these
light elements formed are generally
called BIG BANG NUCLEOSYNTHESIS.
THERE ARE 3 COSMIC PHASES
1.THE BIG BANG
2.STELLAR FORMATION AND
EVOLUTION
3.STELLAR EXPLOSION

These phases explains the birth of

our universe and other heavenly
bodies including our home planet,
Earth. Also explains how are
elements created.
 ARE
ELEME
NTS
THROUGH A PROCESS
CALLED
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
NU-CLE-O-SYN-THE-SIS

•the formation of elements that

naturally occur.
•the process that creates new
atomic nuclei from pre-existing
nucleons, primarily protons and
neutrons.
THE BIG BANG
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
The theory which states that the universe was born
or formed approximately 13.8 billion years ago, a hot,
dense mass experienced a huge explosion, spreading
its products.

This cosmic phase formed the first three elements in

the periodic table which are Hydrogen, Helium, and
Lithium (small amount) and its isotopes.

Clouds of gas and dust accumulate which is the only

matter in the universe for a million of years. Then,
these clouds eventually become stars.
BIG BANG
NUCLEOSYNTHESI
S REACTIONS
Stellar Formation and
Evolution
Stellar nucleosynthesis uses fusion to
create elements in the center of stars

Fusion uses extreme heat and

pressure to fuse smaller elements
together forming larger ones. This
extremely high heat creates heavier
elements. Fusion occurs inside of
stars until they reach iron which is
the limit because there are not
enough neutrons on the stars cores
to continue
 The universe continuously expanded
for several years and the cloud of
hydrogen and helium gases
condensed to form stars, including the
sun. Over million of years, the stars
made of hydrogen became hotter and
denser. During the stellar evolution,
nuclear reactions continued, which
produced elements heavier than
lithium. The light elements combined
to form atoms of carbon, neon,
oxygen, silicon, and iron.
 Starting from a small young, yellow
star, successive nuclear reactions
occurred until it became a giant red
star. The reaction involved in the
formation of each new element
happened in regions or layers so called
fusion shells.
As more elements were produced,
new layers added up to the size of the
star until it became a red giant. Stars
are described to have an “onion skin
structure” as they evolved and
produced new elements.
 Younger yellow stars made up of hydrogen
were fueled by the energy released from the
fusion of hydrogen nuclei to form helium. In
the outer later of a yellow star, the burning
of hydrogen through nuclear fusion produced
helium. Once enough He was produced,
these nuclei became concentrated at the
core of the star, making the temperature
hotter at the region. Hydrogen fusion
continued, but in a shell surrounding the
helium core.
 When the core reached the temperature
enough for helium fusion to occur, helium
burning began. The outer temperature
then became colder than the core, which
caused the star to become red. Be formed
from helium fusion. Another He nucleus
fused with Be, forming C. These reactions
happened in the helium fusion shell,
beneath the hydrogen fusion shell.
 The carbon nuclei produced became
more concentrated at the center of the
star, as helium was earlier. This
produced a carbon core, that when it
reached a certain temperature to allow
carbon fusion, it produced neon within
the carbon fusion shell. Nuclear
reactions that occurred in this shell
include the following:
 Neon then became
concentrated at the core,
then underwent fusion to
produce oxygen.
 When oxygen became
concentrated at the core,
nuclear fusion continued,
producing silicon.
The fusion of Si produced radioactive Ni,
which then decayed to iron. More nuclear
fusions happened between different nuclei
to form the other elements. However, the
production of elements stopped when
iron was formed. Since iron is the
most stable nuclei, it cannot undergo
nuclear fusion. In all of the previous
reactions, a greater amount of energy is
produced, enough to fuel more nuclear
reactions. However, in order to produce
elements heavier than iron, energy input is
necessary. At this point, the star has
already exhausted its nuclear fuel.
STELLAR EXPLOSION
As the red giant star exhausted the
nuclear fuel of light elements, its core
started to collapse that eventually led
to the explosion of the star. This
violent explosion called supernova
released a huge amount of nuclear
energy and produced, through neutron
capture and radioactive decay, other
elements heavier than iron.
Neutron capture reactions were either
as fast as a fraction of a second or as
slow as a few million years. These
processes occurred as a seed nucleus
captured neutrons, forming a heavier
isotope of the element that was either
stable or radioactive. Stable isotopes
continued to capture neutrons and
formed other heavier isotopes of the
seed nuclei. Unstable or radioactive
isotopes, however, underwent beta
decay, producing an isotope of a new
element.
For seed nuclei with relatively few
neutrons (from iron to bismuth),
neutron capture occurred so slowly
that beta decay of the product
isotope happened before it captured
another neutron. This is now referred
to as the slow process or s-
process. An example of this process
is the formation of Cu and Zn nuclei
from a Ni nucleus.
However, some series of neutron
capture occurred very fast that the
seed nucleus turned into a
relatively heavier nucleus before
beta decay took place. Such
process is referred to as the rapid
process or r-process, which is
exemplified in the formation of
cobalt (Co) from iron (Fe)
Different isotopes and much
heavier elements were formed
during the neutron-capture-
and-decay processes. All these
elements, along with the
fragments of the star during
supernova, were released into
the vast space and gradually
condensed to form the
different planets like Earth,
new stars, and other
heavenly bodies.