FORMATION OF

THE LIGHT
ELEMENTS IN
THE BIG BANG
THEORY
EXPLANATION AND EVIDENCES
 Big Bang Theory
The big bang theory is a cosmological model
stating that the universe started its expansion
about 13.8 billion years ago.
The origin of all the naturally occurring
elements fall into two phases:
 Big Bang or Primordial Nucleosynthesis —the origin
of the “light” elements; and
 Stellar Nucleosynthesis— the origin and production of
the “heavy” elements.
 Nucleosynthesis is the process that creates new
atomic nucleus from preexisting nucleons, which is proton
neutrons.

 Primordial or Big Bang Nucleosynthesis refers to

the process of producing the “light elements” shortly after
the Big Bang.

 The energy and temperature of the universe are extremely

high to cause the neutrons and protons to combine and
form certain species of atomic nuclei in a process called
nuclear fusion.
Formation of Light Elements
 Big bang nucleosynthesis is the process of
producing the light elements during the big bang
expansion.
In the beginning, the universe was very hot that matter was fully ionized and
dissociated. Few seconds after the start of the big bang, the universe was filled
with protons, neutrons, electrons, neutrinos, and positrons.

After the first three minutes, the universe cooled down to a point where
atomic nuclei can form. Protons and neutrons combined to form atomic nuclei
such as deuterium.

However, the temperature of the universe was still much greater than the
binding energy of deuterium.

 Binding energy is the energy required to break down a nucleus into

its components.

Therefore, deuterium easily decayed upon formation.

The lifetime of a free neutron to decay is about ten
minutes.

However most neutrons do not have time to decay. After

only about three minutes have elapsed, something else
occurs.

Neutrons interact with protons to form nuclei of

deuterium, or heavy hydrogen. The deuterium soon
gains another neutron to form tritium, which in turn rapidly
absorbs a proton to form a helium nucleus of mass 4,
consisting of two protons and two neutrons.
The lightest elements (hydrogen, helium,
deuterium, lithium) were produced in the Big Bang
nucleosynthesis.

According to the Big Bang theory, the temperatures in the early universe
were so high that fusion reactions could take place. This resulted in the
formation of light elements: hydrogen, deuterium, helium (two
isotopes), lithium and trace amounts of beryllium.
Through Nuclear Fusion, the light elements- Hydrogen
(H), Helium (He), and small amounts of lithium (Li) and
beryllium (Be) were formed. The isotopes produced
during the big bang nucleosynthesis were H-1, H-2, H-3,
H-4, L-7.

 An Isotope is a form of an element that has the same

atomic number of the original element but with different
atomic mass or mass number.
During the formation of the universe in the so-called big bang,
only the lightest elements were formed: hydrogen, helium,
lithium, and beryllium.

Hydrogen and helium dominated; the lithium and beryllium were

only made in trace quantities.

The other 88 elements found in nature were created in

nuclear reactions in the stars and in huge stellar explosions
known as supernovas. Stars like the Sun and planets like Earth
containing elements other than hydrogen and helium could only
form after the first generation of massive stars exploded as
supernovas, and scattered the atoms of heavy elements
throughout the galaxy to be recycled.
Light elements, including hydrogen, helium, deuterium,
and lithium, were formed in the Big Bang because of the
weak nuclear interaction, which is responsible for
radioactive decays of unstable isotopes. Moreover,
processes such as nucleosynthesis and
thermonuclear fusion.
Helium is synthesized inside stars by thermonuclear fusion.
However, most stars, like the sun, are still burning hydrogen
and so have made little helium, and certainly dispersed none
of it.

This confirms that helium has mostly not been synthesized

along with the heavier elements, such as the metals, but was
made prior to the formation of the first stars .

The coincidence between observation and prediction of the

helium abundance in the universe provides one of the major
pieces of evidence for the Big Bang theory.
Physical Science

Group 1
PRESENTED BY:
ANGEL ANN SANTIAGO
JERICHO GONZALES