Questions about the big bang?

Question

I am a junior in high school, and for some reason none of my science classes that I have taken thus far have really tried to explain the big bang theory. pretty much all I know is that there was one atom, and then in one big bang the universe expanded to 100 trillion times of that size. I don't understand what the driving force behind the big bang was, or how solid things (asteroids, planets, etc) developed from there. I understand evolution fairly well (I think). Personally, I am a Christian and so I believe there was a creator, but I keep a very open mind about this. I've tried to research the big bang, and origins of the universe, but I haven't been able to find I site where I can really understand what they are talking about because im really not very smart at all when it comes to science. any help would be so great! also if you could direct me to any sites that explain the big bang in simpler language that would help. thanks all!

Answer 1

Eeks, you ask big questions! I can't answer it really, but I'll add some pointers and can only urge you to read about it as much as you can. We've only just recently had some exciting news from the scientific community http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26605974 regarding the gathering of evidence on the Big Bang, and every piece of the puzzle we can add brings us just that little bit closer to understanding it.



First thing to say is that you shouldn't think of the Big Bang as a "big bang" as it's misleading. It wasn't an explosion. The name actually originates with an astronomer called Fred Hoyle who hated the theory. It's one of those historical quirks that his nickname for it is how we've officially come to know it. Unfortunately it leads to everyone thinking it was like some giant pile of TNT going boom!



The Big Bang is really all about the expansion of space itself over time, from a single point without mathematical dimension called a singularity (these freaky things still exist in the universe as there's one at the centre of every black hole), right up to the vast behemoth multi-billion light-year universe of today. From the first instant to today, the energy contained within the cosmos has not changed. All that's changed is the space in which to put all that energy.



As Einstein discovered with E=mc2, mass and energy have equivalence so it's best to think of matter as being condensed energy. As the spatial dimensions of the universe increased, the immense energy of the initial big bang was able to fall to increasingly lower states.



The early universe was so small and compressed that it was simply too hot for any recognisable matter to occur. Even photons couldn't travel so all of space was totally opaque. At first it was a sea of super high energy gamma rays, but over time subatomic particles were able to form such as the recently discovered Higgs-Boson (thats why monster machines like the LHC are needed to discover such things - they need to recreate an instant of this intense heat as it was just moments after the big bang which is hard work!)

Then came the likes of electrons and protons forming first plasmas, and then finally the first neutral atoms. It took 360,000 years for the universe to get big enough and lose enough of it's density to allow the formation of atoms!



It is these first atoms which form the image now famously associated with the Big Bang.

http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/files/2011/11/101080_7yrFullSky_WMAP_1024W.png

That is basically a panoramic snapshot of the whole sky showing the density of energy at that moment when the first free hydrogen formed. It's the point at which space stopped being opaque, and photons were finally able to roam the cosmos as they do today.



Ever since then things have become less dense as the size of the universe increases. As in the laws of thermodynamics, heat seeks the lowest energy state it possibly can in a process called entropy. That simply put means, the bigger the universe gets, the colder it gets.



However things are yet to completely cool down yet. The temperature of space is still a few degrees above absolute zero, and that's not due to the warming effect of stars as it's constant throughout the whole universe. If you listen to a detuned radio playing static, or watch an old tv that's not tuned into a station, then about 10% of what your're seeing/hearing is the free energy still left over from the big bang.



Obviously we're all curious as to what will ultimately happen to this constantly expanding universe. Unfortunately the answer is pretty depressing. Entropy will always increase, until there's no free energy left. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe





As for the formation of stars, planets, asteroids - well that's all to do with other areas of study. The Big Bang is purely about the early moments of the cosmos. In short, gravitational pressure and electrostatic forces are responsible for the formation of heavenly bodies. All the Big Bang made was a lot of hydrogen (and a few traces of other light materials like helium and lithium).



We don't know why cosmic inflation (the process of the universe expanding rapidly) happened. All we can do is measure and record the evidence of it's having done so. We have a grasp of why it's doing what it's doing now, but that instant at which a singularity of incredible energy became a space with dimensions is one of the great mysteries of physics and is an instant Nobel prize for whoever figures it out! It's likely something to do with the interaction with quantum fluctuations but I'm out of my depth there.

Singularities break down any laws known to us as they are sealed off from the observable cosmos. It is hoped that one day Cosmology may answer this question, but it may take a long time.

Answer 2

I'm going to give the science side of this debate, but keep in mind, nobody is actually 100% sure what really happened back then.



So, the Big Bang is the best theory scientists have got right now for the creation of the universe; they place its occurrence about 14 billion years ago. Basically, for a certain amount of time the universe was a singularity; in other words, it was a bunch of stuff with infinite mass and infinite heat. This presents a whole bunch of problems with general relativity and things, but we really don't need to go into it. Eventually, that mass expanded (the actual "Big Bang") and scattered all over, with the universe's size increasing at an exponential rate and extreme measures of pressure and heat. Over time, all of this matter cooled down enough to form the first subatomic particles; from there on, those subatomic particles formed atoms and then compounds and then clouds of dust. Those clouds of dust turned into the first stars, and the stars produced heavier elements. Even today, the stars are still recycling the universe's elements; these heavier elements and stellar dust condensed into nebulae and, sometimes, planets and asteroids. And this concludes a very simplified history of the Big Band and of the universe up until today's date.



As for the actual cause of the Big Bang- well, only God knows.

Answer 3

Well no. The use of the word atom means something very different then it does today. The word was used to say a fundamental building block. There was no bang, just an expansion of space which is continuing today. The Big Bang Theory is not about the creation of the Universe, just what happened afterwards, it only presumes that creation occurred. What the creation is, what was present at the creation, why the creation occurred and any concept of before are merely undefined in the theory. The concept of a singularity is an extrapolation of general relativity to the creation but the Universe was at the quantum level where general relativity does not apply and quantum mechanics does not require a singularity and indeed allows for a creation out of a quantum fluctuation, a change in the false vacuum, a vacuum metastability event. Literally, quantum mechanics allows for there to be nothing at creation and for there to be no cause for the Universe's creation.



Evolution is independent of the Big Bang Theory, don't even bother including it in the same discussion. Evolution is a process, like a game of hot and cold narrows down where something is, evolution is a simple set of rules that allows the development of complexity without intent.



Bill Nye belittled himself to even speak with the illogic of Ken Hamm.

Answer 4

The main problem is that we don't really know the answers to your questions about the Big Bang. For instance, we don't know how big it was at first. It was very small - whether larger or smaller than an atom - we don't know yet. When the Big Bang happened there were no atoms - they didn't exist as complete atoms until about 377,000 years after the Big Bang happened. The first atoms were only three kinds, hydrogen, helium, and a trace of lithium. Larger atoms like oxygen, carbon, sodium, etc. didn't exist until they were made by the fusion process in the first stars to exist. So, solid things like planets and asteroids didn't start forming until after some of the first stars exploded at the end of their life, maybe a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.



We don't yet know what the driving force behind the Big Bang was either. Probably it had something to do with dark energy, but we don't yet know what dark energy actually is. So don't feel too bad about not knowing the answers to these things because scientists don't know them either - yet.

Answer 5

For every action there is a reaction. Energy never dies . It just transforms into another form of engery.

Remind you that there is no gravity in space. We know that there are elements that violantly react to other elements. Everything that we have on earth came from space.

Take accetaline for an example. That is an unstable gas. Just a basket ball size amount of that is equvalet to 3 sticks of dinnomite . With no graviny... Nothing will stop that force. And it will allways be traveling at that force.

There had to be mass pressure somewhere in space and two or more elements of opisite forces interacted together. like soda in a soda bottle shaking to the point of imploabing on its self with the pressure with in. Then interacting with a element that weakend the force that contained this pressure and like a blown tire... The universe was born and the cat is out of the bag. Energy never seace.

The a bomb was a man made sun. first there was an implosion then the explossion .

Answer 6

Ok. I'm Christian, so I believe in the creation model in Genesis, or the very first book of the Bible. There is a very recent debate between the very very famous scientist Bill Nye (the science guy) and Christian scientist Ken Hamm (the C.E.O of "Answers in Genesis," which is an online site of his science museum, and other resources for Christians.) If you watch the debate it is ALL about the creation of the world. Watch It! Both men did a very good job of explaining themselves. But the final answer to your question about how the big bang happened was finally stated clearly by Bill Nye as "we don't know." And he promptly follows it with the defense saying that's what drives scientists to keep going, is discovering these type so answers. The debate is very long, not too incredibly complicated, but very long, and I don't know where Bill Nye says it in there, but it is there. It is free on YouTube, just search for Ken Hamm and Bill nye debate. You will find it. God bless!