Week 2

Module I

I. Lesson I The Origin of the Universe

As the life form with the highest level of intelligence capable of self-understanding we have the collective responsibility to learn
and understand how or planet works, behaves and reacts. Indeed, it is not old: it is an ancient for being 4.6 billion years old now.
Moreover, it is forever young because it undergoes a continuous transformation, as it quietly travels with the Sun in the vastness of
space.
Though we are late comers as the most evolved species, we have seen our tremendous capacity to interfere with the natural
processes of the Earth. For the first time in Earth’s existence, a species of life on its surface has developed the unprecedented power
to transform it drastically, even destroy it, unnaturally. Thus, we can say to a certain extent, without exaggeration, that the future of our
planet, our only home in this universe, is in our hands!

II. LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:

1. Discuss the current understanding of the nature of the universe.
2. State the different hypotheses explaining the origin of the universe;
3. Discuss the ultimate end of the universe based on current scientific views;
4. Evaluate the different hypotheses regarding valid scientific evidence.

III. PRETEST
Multiple Choices
Direction: Write only the letter of the correct answer.
1.The time when the universe became transparent to light, allowing it to travel for great distances, is known as the:
a. Dark Age
b. Radiation era
c. Recombination epoch
d. Reionization era
e. Era of early nucleosynthesis
2.The name big bang was coined:
a. By Fred Hoyle, who believed in it vehemently
b. None of these terms are correct
c. By George Gamow, who used it as a term of derision
d. By George Gamow, who was its proponent
e. By Fred Hoyle, who didn't believe in it
3.The radiation that fills up all of space as a result of the Big Bang is known as:
a. Cosmic gamma background
b. Cosmic radio background
c. Cosmic microwave background
d. Universal microwave background
e. Universal gamma ray background
4. The main force responsible for the formation of the universe is:
a. Gravity
 b. Frictional force
c. Magnetic force
d. Electrical force
5. The approximate age of the universe is
a. 1 Billion years old and 14 days
b. 14 Billion years old
c. 140 Billion years old
d.13.7 Billion years old
6. The first objects to form in the solar system were
a. Atoms
b. Stars
c. Comets
d. Planets
7. Which of the following correctly lists the structures in space form smallest to largest?
a. Star, galaxy, universe, solar system
b. Star, solar system, galaxy, universe
c. Star, solar system, universe, galaxy
d. Star, universe, solar system, galaxy
8. A student uses the following characteristics to describe a group of objects in space. • 200 billion stars • 30 million light years from
Earth • Elliptical in shape Which of the following is the student most likely describing?
a. A galaxy
b. The universe
c. A constellation
d. The solar system
9. What are the three types of galaxies?
a. spiral, black hole, irregular
b. barred, nebula, elliptical
c. irregular, neutron, pulsar
d. spiral, elliptical, irregular
10. Our galaxy, The Milky Way, has a pinwheel shape, what type of galaxy is it? a. elliptical
b. fun
c. irregular
d. spiral

IV. CONTENT

Some Basic Concepts about Universe

Universe. The word universe usually means the space that contains everything that exists. This is a rather limited view. Today,
by the universe, we should include at least four realities, namely, space, matter, time and energy. The list practically includes
everything that exists. [Actually, there is more!] Thus, a theory of the origin of the universe must be able to explain how these four
realities came into existence.
Space. This refers to that which can contain something, which matter can occupy and where events can take place. If you
have a box before you, and you put something into it, the box can hold that thing because the box defines a space within it. It has three
dimensions, X, Y, and Z. Recall 3-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. Now, if you look out into the heavens, you can think of
space as containing the planets, the stars, the nebulae, galaxies and other undiscovered entities. That means so much space: and a
huge space indeed!
Time. Time is simply the “separation” between two events, happenings or occurrences. It is what passes or elapses in
between two events. If you close your eyes now, count from 1 to 20, and open your eyes, the “separation” between the closing (first
event) and opening (second event) of your eyes after 20 counts is time. Time as we know it is measured by our common instruments
like wristwatch, wall clock, cellphone or iPad.
Space-time. Einstein proposed the idea of considering space and the time as one continuum called space-time. This idea
combines both space and time into a continuum of four dimensions (that is, three dimensions of space plus one dimension of time).
Both realities go together. We live and move not only in space but also in time, and vice versa. Space-time can be bent or wrapped by
massive matter such as planets or stars.
 Matter. You have learned in your chemistry studies that matter is defined as anything that occupies space and has mass. This
means that matter has two fundamental properties to be such, namely, mass and volume. This universe is filled with so much matter
from smallest- quarks, atoms, molecules- to the biggest– planets, stars, galaxies – with still so much space in-between them.
Energy. This is the capacity to do work. If you have energy, you can do work. Say, if you push a table, and it moves 3 feet to
the right or in the direction of the push you exerted, then you have performed work. You can recall kinetic energy as the energy of
motion and potential energy as the energy in position. Moreover, there are forms of energy such as light, electricity, heat, mechanical
and others. The expansion of the vast universe we are in is powered by an enormous amount of energy.

Theories on the Origin of the Universe

There are two competing theories about the origin of the universe: the Big Bang Theory (BBT) the Steady State Theory (SST).
The most widely accepted theory or model currently id BBT. The SST has been abandoned by most scientists while the BBT is now
widely accepted and continues to be refined and updated based on new pieces of evidence for or against it. However, even the BBT
has its limitations and is continually updated to account for new observations. Not everyone is happy or satisfied with it. So, a third
model of the universe is quietly emerging: the Cyclic Universe Theory (CUT). This theory goes beyond the big bang.
However, before the theories, how big is the present universe and what does it contain? Consider the following data about
physical universe.

Age of the universe 13.799+ 0.021 x 109 years; ~ 14 billion years

Approximate diameter of the visible universe 8.8 x 1026 m; 9.3 x 1010 ly [93Gly]
Estimated mass of the observable universe (based on ordinary
3 x 1052 kg
matter)
Estimated total mass-energy of the universe 4 x 1069 J
Estimated volume of the universe 4 x 1080 m3
Mean density 9.9 x 10-30 g/cc [~ 6n protons/ cc space]
Average temperature 2.72548 K
Ordinary matter (4.6%)
Contents (from WMAP, as January 2013)
Dark matter (24.0%)
[Wilkinson Anisotropy]
Dark Energy (71.4%)

Big Bang Theory

This theory holds that the universe had a beginning. BBT claims that the universe came into being from the sudden explosion
of a primeval matter about 14 billion years ago. This is a huge amount of time! No human being could ever observe such a
phenomenon. This theory implies that space, time, matter and energy resulted from that explosion.

BBT Proponents and their Scientific Arguments and Evidence

While it can be argued that there be many persons

who contributed to the development of the BBT, we will only
cite those whose ideas bear direct relevance anchored on
scientific evidence based on observations or arguments based
on empirical evidence. Below is a short chronology of the BBT
development.

In 1610, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) argued that

the universe be finitely based on the night sky. This means that
the universe had a beginning. There was a time that it was not
in existence.

In 1915, Albert Einstein (1879-1955) presented his

idea of General Relativity, in which he proposed that the gravity
be a geometric property of spacetime. In simpler terms, this
means that matter can cause spacetime around it to curve or
that curvature of spacetime is related to the presence of matter
and energy. An artist’s rendition of this concept is shown below.

Curving of space in the vicinity of Earth

 On January 1, 1925, Edwin Hubble’s (1889-1953) paper was presented at the American Astronomical Society where he
showed that some “nebulae” were very distant galaxies beyond Milky Way. He discovered that the universe was bigger than earlier
thought. Previously, it was thought that the whole universe consisted entirely of Milky Way galaxy. Thus, January 1, 1925, is considered
the birth of the universe based on Hubble’s report.

In 1927, Fr. George Lemaitre (1894-1966), Belgian cosmologist and Catholic priest, published an unnoticed paper where he
provided a solution to Einstein’s General Relativity equations that led to an expanding universe. His idea of a big bang origin was a
logical consequences of an expanding universe. He is considered the Father of the BBT. He proposed that the universe started from
the explosion of a single particle, “a primeval atom”, sometime in the distant past. He argued that if the universe is expanding now, then
there was a time that it was smaller, and by extrapolating back into the past, everything must have started from a “primeval atom”. This
idea was considered preposterous by many of his contemporary cosmologists especially because there was no empirical or
observational evidence to support it.

In 1929, Edwin Hubble and Milton Humason (1891-1972) published their report about red-shift of lights coming from distant
galaxies. They discovered that there was a linear relationship between red-light shift of the galaxies’ light and their distance from earth
(where we observers live). This means that the greater the red-shift, the farther the galaxy is. You need to be familiar with the
electromagnetic (light) spectrum for this. Light is a wave and therefore it can be stretched or compressed. If a source of light is moving
away from the observer, the light coming from it will be stretched and it will shifted towards the red portion of the spectrum (red-shift). If
the source is moving towards the observer, the light waves will be compressed and the light will be shifted towards the blue portion of
the spectrum (blue-shift). So in 1929, Hubble showed that almost all galaxies are moving away from us and from each other. This
provides the observational support for an expanding universe proposed by Fr. Lamaitre.

Electromagnetic Spectrum

Red Shift and Blue Shift of Light

George Gamow (1904-0968) supported Lemaitre’s BBT but added his modification by arguing for a hot Big Bang in which he
proposed that the universe was very hot at the beginning and gradually cooled down as it expanded. It was very hot because radiation
(energy) dominated matter. He predicted a universal afterglow resulting from the Big Bang event with a calculated temperature of 7k. In
1948, he, Ralph Alpher (1921-2007) and Hans Bethe(1906-2005) published a paper wherein they proposed a thermonuclear explosion
as the Big Bang event and the formation of atomic nuclei by the capture of neutrons.

In 1964, Arno Penzias (1933-) and Robert Wilson(1936-), while working at the Bell Lab, discovered the Cosmic Microwave
Background Radiation (CMD), which provides a confirmation for the Big Bang event. The CMD is the so-called afterglow of the
universe or a relic radiation from the time when the universe was filled with extremely hot gas that emitted photons of light. However,
since the universe cooled down as it expanded, it was calculated that the afterglow is already in the radio wave band of the
electromagnetic spectrum. With this, the theory of a hot Big Bang origin for our universe is confirmed.

In 2011, Saul Perlmutter, Adam Riess, and Brian Schmidt were awarded the Nobel Physics Prize for their discovery that the
universe is not only expanding but the expansion is speeding up or accelerating. Dark energy is the hypothesized source of this energy.

Timeline of the metric expansion of space.

Big Bang in Stages: Theories within the theory [abstracted from The 14-billion History by Harvard University]

At the far left of the diagram, you can see a bright spot indicating an explosion, with terms inflation and quantum fluctuations.
Let us consider this point as the beginning. However, what was before the universe is still unknown. The inflationary theory holds that a
super-concentrated but unstable form of energy filled all of the space. Moreover, then, at the instant of the Big Bang, this energy was
released to form into particles. What caused the explosion is still an unsettled question.

Now, at the very instant of the Big Bang, Particles came into existence from the theorized unstable energy just before the big
bang. Matter, as we know it today, formed from these particles. Space at this moment contains very dense matter and energy.
Estimates put a teaspoon of space to contain “100 million trillion pounds” of super packed matter and energy.

Three minutes after the Big Bang Event, all hydrogen atoms in the universe were formed. This includes the hydrogen in our
water here on earth and the ones in our bodies.

After about 300,000 years, the universe has rapidly expanded and cooled down at the same time, but still was very hot.
Hydrogen and helium were now present in the universe. The earliest light, the afterglow of the Big Bang, could also be detected.

The Dark Ages happened after 100 million years as the universe continued to expand. The universe has cooled down
considerably, but the light was no longer visible: hence, the dark ages.

After a billion years, stars began to shine, and formed galaxies, which are vas collections of stars, and cluster of galaxies.

After about 14 billion years, we have the present universe, with all space, time, matter and energy it contains, including many
of its unsolved mysteries. Our universe is still expanding at an increasing rate.

What would be the fate of the universe? One theory holds that it will continue to expand until all space and matter are ripped
apart in an event called the Big Rip. Another holds that expansion will halt, gravity will take over, and the universe would start
contracting in a reverse Big Bang called the Big Crunch. Finally, a third idea holds that the universe will just continue to expand forever
[if there is indeed a forever].
 The observable universe

Steady State Theory

This used to be an alternative view to the BBT. This theory claims that the universe has no beginning at all, and consequently
it will have no end: it is eternal. The universe always is, always has been and always will be. The universe is thus infinite, constant,
homogenous and isotopic. It can be seen, for example, in the density of matter in the universe. That density must be the same in both
space and time. This idea is based on the so-called Perfect Cosmological Principle in which holds that the universe, when viewed from
a sufficient large perspective or scale by any observer, is homogenous (has a uniform distribution of matter throughout space) and
isotopic (has a uniform distribution of matter viewed from any direction) in both space and time. It is like looking at a transparent sphere
filled with sand. From whichever direction you examine the sphere: you see the same distribution of sand. Moreover, if you leave the
sphere for some time, say a month, when you examine it again on coming back, you will discover it has not changed. The density of the
universe is the same throughout, and if the universe is expanding, the change in the density would be corrected by the continuous
creation of matter. So viewed from earth, we would see a uniform universe from any direction at all times.

The picture above illustrates how the universe would look like if it were isotopic. It depicts the whole observable universe with
an estimated diameter of 93 billion light years or 28 billion parsecs or 8.8 x 1026 m. Each fine grain used by the artists represents
collections of huge numbers of superclusters, which are groups of clusters of galaxies, which are in turn composed of billions of
individual stars.

The Virgo Supercluster occupies the center of the illustration. The observers come from this center. Why the Virgo
Supercluster? This is where Milky Way, our home galaxy, belongs. We are the observers. Examine the iluustration closely.

Proponents of the Steady State Theory

In 1867, Sir Isaac Newton described a “static, steady and infinite universe” in his book “Principia”. With Newton’s reputation,
this theory is also known as the Newtonian Universe. Albert Einstein essentially did not differ from Newton’s universe as he believed in
a static but dynamically stable universe. However, to counter the attractive effects of gravity which would make the universe contract,
he had to add the “cosmological constant” into his general relativity equation to model a universe that is neither expanding nor
contracting. He later abandoned it when it was proven that the universe expands. In 1948, Thomas Hoyle, English Astronomer, and
cosmologist, supported the SST. He accepted the expansion of the universe but insisted that the new matter to be formed between
galaxies thus maintain the overall density of the universe on the large scale. He was supported in this view by two other scientists
namely Thomas Gold and Hermann Bondi.
The SST became popular in the 1950’s and 1960’s as a strong alternative to the BBT but with the discovery of the Cosmic
Microwave Background Radiation, The SST was largely abandoned by the scientific community. In the early 90’s, Hoyle, Geoffrey
Burbidge and Jayant Narlikar proposed a modification to the SST with their Quasi-Steady State Cosmos model (QSSC) where they
proposed the existence of pockets of creation in the universe known as minibangs. However, other scientists continue to point out the
inability of the modified theory to account for, predict or explain new cosmic observations, as pointed out for example by Edward L.
Wright. The discovery that the expansion of the universe is accelerating posed further difficulties to the resurrected SST.

Cyclic Universe Theory (Steindhardt and Turok, 2007)

This theory holds that the universe goes through “repeating cycles of evolution”. Every cycle begins with a bang. Thus a bang
is not the beginning of universe but “an event with a ’before’ and ‘after’”. However, why does a bang take place? A bang happens when
two “branes” (from membrane) collide resulting in a cataclysmic explosive event resulting in the re-birth of all things in the universe.
Branes are “One-, two-, or higher-dimensional surface that can move through space, stretch, curve, wiggle and collide with other similar
constituents”. In this theory, what is referred to as the Big Bang becomes simply the latest bang in the “endless” cycle of “birth and
rebirth” of the universe. The proponents claim that their theory addresses the many modifications made on the BBT every time
adjustments are called for when new observational data deviate or differ from the BBT predictions.

V. LEARNING ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITY 1. Learning Check

I. Write the letter of the correct answer.
______1. Which of the following observational findings tend to support the BBT?
A. Discovery of the cosmic microwave radiation C. Red-shift of light from very distant galaxies
B. Expansion of the fabric of space-time D. All of the above.
______2. Which cosmologist proposed the Big Bang Theory for the origin of the universe?
A. Albert Einstein C. Fred Hoyle
B. George Lemaitre D. Isaac Newton
______3. Who proposed the idea of a hot Big Bang model and predicted the CMB?
A. Arno Penzias B. George Gamow C. Edwin Hubble D. Johannes Kepler
______4. Who credited with the discovery of the expansion of the universe?
A. Edwin Hubble B. Jayant Narlikar C. Saul Perlmutter D. Paul Steinhardt
______5. Which is the predicted scenario id the expansion of the universe will not stop?
A. Big Bang 2 B. Big Crunch C. Big Rip D. Reverse Big Bang
II. Define the following theories based on your own understanding:
Big Bang Theory
Steady State Theory
Cyclic Universe Theory

Rubrics

Criteria 5 4 3 2 1

Presentation

1. The purpose and focus are clear and consistent.

2. The main claim is clear, significant, and challenging.

3. Organization is purposeful, effective and appropriate.

4. Sentence form and word choice are varied and appropriate.

5. Punctuation, grammar, spelling and mechanics are appropriate.

Content

6. Information and evidence are accurate, appropriate, and integrated

effectively.

7. Claims and ideas are supported and elaborated.

8. Alternative perspectives are carefully considered and represented.

Thinking

9. Connections between and among ideas are made.

10.Analysis/synthesis/evaluation/interpretations are effective and

consistent.

11. Independent thinking is evident.

12. Creativity/ originality is evident.

V. REFERENCES
∙ Scale of the Universe: Putting the Universe into Perspective at http://scaleofuniverse.com/

∙ Measuring the Age and Size of the Universe at http://www.spacetelescope.orp/science/age size/

VI. ASSESSMENT

Answer the following question as directed.

1. Cited two limitations of each theory of the origin of the universe. Provide an explanation.

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2. Despite the explanations and views provided above. Which theory do you find appealing
and why?
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Prepared and Submitted by:

BRIAN M. ELAYDO
Assistant Professor I